A study conducted by Yale University confirmed that approximately 80% of students feel stressed and nearly 70% of students feel bored during their long school hours. Similarly, National Center for Education Research (NCER) Survey & Study observed that 80% of school students get jaded and less creative because of the long school hours. Moreover, they show signs of underdeveloped behavior and socioeconomic development. The truth is students get bored attending long classes because they have to sit silently in the classroom. Therefore, most students look for creative ways to pass their school time faster. If you are part of this whirlwind and wonder how to make school go by faster, this blog can be of great help to you. From here, you will get some unique options to utilize the boring school hours. Plus, you can find out the benefits of lowered school hours for students and educational institutes alike.
Do Educational Institutions Get Affected By Long School Hours?
Long school hours have negative impacts on a school’s financial budget as well. Here are some prominent reasons:
- Increased salary – Lengthy school hours indicate that teachers and nonteaching staffs work for a longer time. As a result, academic institutions have to compensate them more for their longer working hours.
- Higher operational costs – With the extended school hours, there is an increase in the daily operational expense. It means schools spend more money on heating, cooling, sanitization, water, and electrical facilities.
Can Students Benefit From Lower School Hours?
Restricting school hours can help students in multiple ways. Here are a few notable things that you can enjoy if school timings are reduced.
Ø Additional Time for Other Interests
Some students want to expand their careers in areas that are not taught in school. When they have enough time to discover the subjects they find interesting, they probe the subject more deeply and gain a strong foothold on what they would prefer to do after graduation.
If educational institutes reduce the school hours, these tasks become easy and help in the development of the children.
Ø Added Time for More Lessons
Not all students learn at the same pace. Some catch the study elements quickly while others need time to catch up on it. Moreover, at times, students try to make up their studies after an unexpected period of absence from learning. However, if students spend lesser hours in school, they will not need to take on the additional pressure of finding time from their schedule to study what they are lagging behind. Instead, they will find free time naturally to utilize for the task.
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Ø Less Time Wasted With Classroom Management
In the present education system, the teacher-to-student ratio is quite high in most schools. When teachers put their efforts to make all students work on various tasks, a lot of the school day gets wasted. However, if educationists review how to make school go by faster, chances are less for students to zone out faster and they will not feel that the time is dragging on.
Ø More Sleep at Both Ends of the Day
Rushing children and teenagers out for school early in the morning every day impacts negatively their academic performance. A study suggests that individuals below the age of 18 must have 8-10 hours of sleep daily.
However, the class timings from 8:30 am in most American schools hampers their sleep cycles which reduces their executive functioning, cognitive development, and emotional regulation. They have to wake up in the early morning for the long school hours and study till late at night. It curbs their sleep on both ends of the day.
Ø Improved Family Dynamics and Reduced Stress
Good family dynamics have a deeper impact on the psychological and cognitive development of a kid. However, the early school hours break this relationship. Waking up early can lead to arguments day after day in some households.
But, if the schools begin a bit later family relationships can improve, and the bond between parents and children becomes deeper. With it, there will be a striking improvement in the mood of the entire family.
Ø More Time to Appreciate Learning
Students can learn more if they are eager to collect more information. Plus, their inquisitiveness towards the subject and appreciation of the learning process will help them absorb study materials more quickly.
But, unfortunately, most students in America dread the long day ahead in school instead of appreciating the subject material. However, if school hours are short, students can focus more intensely on their work.
Ø Ample Time for Homework
When school hours are spread out throughout the entire day combined with many extracurricular activities, many students feel overwhelmed and work on their tasks till late at night. It affects their health, mind, and all aspects of life. Conversely, a shorter school day allows students to practice extra activities, while still giving way ample time to complete their homework.
How To Make Time Go Faster At School?
Here are 10 hacks you can apply to make the school hours pass faster:
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1. Perform any Creative Task
One activity that will help you handle your boring class is drawing. Basically, it is not a productive method as taking notes of the lectures, but it helps you to pass the time. Moreover, evidence proves that doodling helps in retaining information while listening to it. So, if your moral values are quite high and you are a strict believer in karma, you will not really feel like wasting your time. Simple outlines of abstract shapes, cartoons, or sketching out the names can help you make the best use of time.
2. Engage in class discussions
Taking part in class lectures or discussions is the best way to kill your time in school. 5 minutes of the lecture will feel like an entire lifetime if you do not lift your finger or move your mouth. However, if you place your queries on the subject to your class teacher or classmates and engage in an academic conversation actively you will never realize when the time flies.
3. Read Books
There is hardly any task in this world that makes one forget about time other than reading books. Reading school-recommended books for various subjects is an excellent way to utilize time. However, you can study novels and storybooks in your free hours as well.
4. Make study buddies
You may have many friends in school but your studying habits may never match that of most of your classmates. Therefore, pick friends who study in a similar way as you do, and use your free time in school to mull over the complicated subjects. This way, you will attain your academic goals and enhance your grades without spending additional time on it.
5. Daydream
If you have a vivid imaginative mind, let your mind wander and pass the boring hours in school. Though, not many educationalists will conform to this method, at least you can pass the time without landing in trouble. Nonetheless, come back to reality from your dreamland when your teacher shares something important.
6. Go To the Bathroom
If your school regulations allow you to go to the bathroom during a class, use it to your advantage. When you find a class boring, even the study and stingy bathroom can feel like an escape. However, use it justifiably. It may never happen that you miss out on important discussions of the lecture while you are enjoying your free time in the bathroom.
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7. Do homework
Homework does not mean that you have to do the task in your home. Teachers give this task to help you revise your class discussions. If you find free time in your school, use it for completing your homework. It will hit two birds with one stone – you will use up the time and reduce the pressure for doing the homework as you reach home.
8. Do petty tasks
How often we complain of lacking the time to devote ourselves and work on things we enjoy. If you have free time in school and are confused, about how to make school go by faster, why not use it for doing micro-tasks that you enjoy? Playing individual mind games, writing diaries or short stories, and observing are just a few to mention. This way you will never realize the minutes or hours spent.
9. Engage in activity clubs
Almost all schools in the USA have activity clubs, ranging from gardening to foreign language learning. Use your free period to spend time in the activity clubs. Take a membership and engage in fun activities you enjoy. You will never realize the hours or minutes went by.
10. Ignore the clock on the wall
After all this advice or tricks on to-do things, let us share one thing that you must never do to make school go by faster – look at the clock. Just like the adage goes, “a watched pot never boils,” time never passes quickly by looking at the clock. It makes every minute more dreadful. Plus, you become more hyper-aware of how slowly time is moving. So saddle your eyes from the clock, if you want to pass the time.
Conclusion
Discussed are the best answers on how to make school go by faster. However, we will still suggest you not rely on a single method. If possible, use most of them in combinations of one with another. However, if you still struggle to find a suitable answer to this significant issue or need help with your academic papers, connect with us immediately.