Eliminate Homeroom

[Mysterian]

I remember homeroom just being a waste of time.

I remember school just being a waste of time!

(But seriously, stay in school, kids.)

 

[Cadiewampus]

yep back in the olden days in highschoolwe had homeroom everyday. This was 8th through 12th 72 to 77. Back then in our area there was no middle school.

 

[DLgal]

My kids high school has "Advisement." What is neat about it is you get assigned an Advisement teacher/class in 9th grade and it stays the same throughout HS. So, each Advisement class has kids from all grade levels. They sit with their Advisement class during pep rallies and assemblies. The Advisement class meets once a week for a 20 minute period. A lot of Advisement time is peer mentorship and time for social emotional topic discussion or just a time to talk about current events and how they are impacting students. My kids like it. There are daily announcements via a TV channel run by the students. This happens the first 5 minutes of the first period every day.

 

[design_mom]

I already wrote that my daughter does not regularly have a homeroom in high school. I thought "secondary school" was high school, but it sounds like it might be "middle school."

My kids had something called Academic Assist in middle school. It was a shorter period at the end of the day. Some days, it was used for a planned presentation, but most days it was almost like "office hours" for the teachers. Middle school was the first time the students were changing classes/had different teachers for different subjects. It gave them a chance to go back and ask that teacher questions, etc. Students could sign out of Academic Assist to go to another teacher's room, to the library, etc. Students who stayed in the room could use it as a short study hall. (The assistant principal was pretty vigilant about making sure that kids were going where they said they would be going. You did not want to be caught somewhere other than where you hall pass said you'd be.) Overall, I think it worked out pretty well. I believe the middle school still does it.

 

[disykat]

I'm surprised there are schools where homeroom is separate from the academic day. I've never heard of that.

Other people have probably said similar, but in my own schooling as well as all the years I taught "Homeroom" wasn't a period, but an assignment. Very little time was taken other than the fact they made the announcements, etc. Wherever you were during the period they did the announcements was your homeroom and there were a very few counseling type responsibilities the teacher had. For example if you were changing you schedule maybe you had to run it by your homeroom teacher. It was basically a way to put a teacher "in charge" of each student that had eyes on them each day and could direct them to the counselor, etc. as needed. Housekeeping things like passing out report cards, etc. were done during that period, rather than randomly.

For teachers it was great because if you had a concern about a student you could talk to their homeroom teacher to kind of get them started on a path to fix whatever problem rather than the same "teacher that has a reputation of being approachable" being the contact point for everyone. That way, each teacher could focus on their subject and only feel "special responsibility" for a limited group of students. While ultimately all teachers are watching out for all students, giving each student someone specific that is supposed to be keeping track of them in a slightly different way can be helpful to both teachers and students. Students don't see the counselor etc. daily, but the homeroom teacher has eyes on them each session so it's just another level of keeping track of and caring for the students.

 

[HopperFan]

I suggest that secondary schools in the United States should eliminate homeroom. Announcements can be posted online (or posted on a screen in the school, or handouts can be given during 1st period), attendance should be taken per class period (or just taken in the first period, I guess. Some districts take attendance once a day in period 3. Whatever). Kids can go right to 1st period. It adds 12-20 minutes of instruction per day for a total of 36-60 more hours of class time over the course of the year.

HS where my kid teaches there is no homeroom.

It serves zero purpose in this technological age.

 

[Flight]

My school had a ten minute homeroom in the morning where announcements were watched on a tv screen in each room. We had a studio in the school where selected students made the announcements. Each morning some “cute” short video was shown after the announcements.

After homeroom, some students stayed in the room for their first period class, others left.

Attendance was taken during homeroom. Attendance was also taken electronically each period throughout the day.

Overall, it was an inefficient use of time.

 

[DebbieB]

I graduated in 1977, we didn’t have home room while I was in high school.

 

[monsterkitty]

For teachers it was great because if you had a concern about a student you could talk to their homeroom teacher to kind of get them started on a path to fix whatever problem rather than the same "teacher that has a reputation of being approachable" being the contact point for everyone. That way, each teacher could focus on their subject and only feel "special responsibility" for a limited group of students. While ultimately all teachers are watching out for all students, giving each student someone specific that is supposed to be keeping track of them in a slightly different way can be helpful to both teachers and students. Students don't see the counselor etc. daily, but the homeroom teacher has eyes on them each session so it's just another level of keeping track of and caring for the students.

This!

We had the same students for A/E all three years and were their advocates. Teachers would let the A/E teacher know if a student was falling behind, needed help in a subject, was causing a problem, or whatever. We could watch for changes in behavior or personality. Students felt more comfortable with their A/E teachers and would confide needs or concerns.

A/E is another layer of protection for the student.

 

[barkley]

i graduated in '79. attendance was taken all 7 periods of classes. i recall that whatever english class we were assigned to each year was designated as our 'homeroom' but nothing ever came of that status. all announcements were done by public address at the beginning of 1st period, and any school wide handouts were either mailed or distributed in 5th period b/c it was both closer to the end of the day so we were less apt to lose them, and some students left after 5th if they had a work permit.

my kids graduated in '13 and '18-no homeroom for them either/attendance taken every period. everything was announced over public address, paperwork was electronically sent.

 

[mrs. magoo]

We do not have homeroom and school starts at 7:30 but we have a built in 15 minute Social Emotional period before 3rd period. My students have not had an uninterrupted school year in 2 plus years. I have students who have not stepped into a school building since March 2019. The amount of violence in our city has grown exponentially and students are very anxious about returning to school full time. Many have to walk to school and just this morning there was a double shooting on the corner of my school. School starts on September 8th.

 

[aprilgail]

Haven't had homeroom in our district in 25+ years.