What if we told you school only covers part of what you need to learn? The experiences and lessons learned outside the classroom can be equally as valuable as those learned in the classroom, yet teachers continually criticize students who miss class for learning opportunities.
Although students spend an average 35 hours per week sitting in the classroom, much of our learning can takes place outside of the school building.
While students should never purposely skip class or even continually miss class for extracurricular activities, there are situations where missing class proves highly valuable.
These enriching, out-of-school opportunities place students as valuable societal members and launch them into the “real world” that school attempts to prepare them for. If students have a chance to truly learn from an experience that take place outside of the classroom during school hours, they should immediately seize the opportunity, no matter who tells them not to.
The most challenging aspect provided with these opportunities comes with frequent teacher disagreement of students missing class for any reason. Often, teachers feel students may be disrespecting the time and effort they spend preparing for class by missing when they could be in attendance.
Yet, students on a field trip are not absent from class as a sign of disrespect but in an effort to expand their knowledge and personal expertise. To prove their good intentions and responsibility, students must take responsibility for the classwork they are missing the day of the field trip, without excuse or complaint.
This is especially true when students find discord between school athletics and time in the classroom. Many golfers, for example, are scheduled to miss class for athletic competitions. While many students work to catch up, teachers still remain critical of an event that is promoted by the school. These athletic expectations, which are similar to other activities that take time out of school, work to make teens more worldly and well-rounded.
Students should grasp the opportunity that lies in front of them. Though time in the classroom is extremely valuable, some events call for an exception. When given a chance to learn from a meaningful experience outside of school, seize it.
Faculty members should remember that part of our high school experience comes from more than the classroom instruction.