THANKS TO EVERYONE!
***
We had to really tighten up our policy this year, because I was being
overrun with kids who just wanted to get out of SH. Students must get a
pass from the ASSIGNING teacher BEFORE SH to come to the library. This
means if they need to do research for an English paper, the pass is
written by the Eng teacher. Then the student shows it to the SH teacher.
The only time a SH teacher writes a pass is if they just need to check
out books.
Most of my SH teachers are really good about only letting a few come at
a time, but I have no problem sending students back if the library is
too full. Some SH teachers even give the students a time limit if they
have a large group of students wanting to come.
We spend some time at the beginning of the year (during in service)
talking about our system and making changes that we feel we need.
***
I let the study hall teacher send only two students at time because the
study halls are scheduled when I have classes scheduled in the library.
I've tried to allow more, but two seems to be manageable.
Since many students ask him to leave study hall, he pulls out his roster
and alphabetically asks who would like to use the library. He starts
the list the next day on the next letter of the alphabet. Beforehand,
the students write in their agendas what they will be doing, and he
signs it. When they come in, I look at their purpose for being here so
I can monitor them better.
Hope this helps.
***
What you are doing seems reasonable to me, especially since I do the
same thing. And, yes, I do think it is up to the study hall teachers as
to who comes when. Perhaps he/she/they could do as I've had teachers
here do: sign up on a weekly basis, first come, first serve -- but the
student can only sign up for one day of the week.
I've also told teachers that they can send 3 or 4 at a time, for 15 -20
minutes, and that once one of those students returned, another could
come from the same class.
Either way, teachers (and students) will still complain, but at least I
feel that I've set some kind of limit.
***
We have the same basic procedure here at Sycamore High School. We are a
suburban school outside of Cincinnati. The students go to study hall
first and are issued passes to come to us. They cannot come in unless
they have a pass. It is up to the study hall teacher to determine who
is allowed to receive a pass. Once they sign in with us, we are
responsible for them until they sign out and leave. If they leave
early, we sign their pass and they are supposed to return to study hall.
You are not wrong in believing that's the way it should be. We too have
limits on how many students from each study hall can come to us. Our
space is limited and therefore we have to do this. It is the teachers
who need to monitor their study hall students with regards as to who can
leave, you have more than enough to do once they come to you.
Hope this helps!!!!
***
My take is that you and the study hall teacher are actually both in
charge of those kids. You need to set reasonable limits for numbers of
students from study halls, but the study hall teacher should be able to
say WHICH students get to go to the library. I'm assuming that the
library is open before and after school, so students still have an
opportunity to use the library, just not at the time they wanted to.
Of course, I've not had to deal with that issue here since we have NO
study halls!
***
I teach in a high school where students come to me FIRST, rather than
reporting to a study hall. We have class periods with upwards of 150
students in study halls, and the first 20 to get here, get in. It's a
horrible system, but my principal insists that the library MUST remain
open every day for study hall students, so I rarely, if ever, do not
have 20+ students here. Study hall teachers (and the principal) complain
if the library is closed to study hall students, even if I'm teaching a
class in the media center.
If you wouldn't mind posting a hit with other responses you receive, I'd
love to hear how other high schools handle study hall students!
I would agree that it is an issue with study hall teachers handling
their students at your school. When I taught English (at a different
school), I could let a small number of students go to the media center;
I would always ask what project they were working on, and what resources
they expected to use in the media center, rather than sending the kids
just to get them out of my room. I think it helped the media specialist
and media secretary a lot, because they wouldn't end up (for lack of a
better word) babysitting students who didn't have legitimate work to do.
***
Being a power hungry male animal, I make all decisions when it involves
the library. I, and I only, make the decision who comes, who stays, and
who leaves... Much simpler that way - as the study hall teacher wouldn't
know if I had several classes in the library or I was at a meeting and
not even in the library (one man library here - and no way to lock it as
we are also a hall way).
Makes it all very clean. I have done this in 3 schools so far - with no
complaints, no hassles. This also teaches the student to plan ahead - no
last minute "I have to go to the library" situations. Saying that, there
are always of course those emergencies that pop up - but they are rare.
***
I agree with you. It is the SH teachers who decide who gets to go to the
library. I was at a HS for 5 yrs before my current position and it was
always the SH teachers who chose which of their students would go to the
library. For many of them it was first come, first serve and we had a
lot of problems with kids who just came to fool around but, the teachers
would never have let us tell them who could come from their classes
unless a student was in trouble multiple time and thus lost library
privileges for the quarter. Some times I wished we could tell them who
to send but, it wasn't gonna happen!
***
My school doesn't have study hall but I use a similiar strategy as Dr.
O'Grady Cuseo for lunch-time. I have about five students per lunch
period. So far it seems to be working. I agree it should be your call
how many students come in per study hall. I've seen many postings on
this list from schools that don't allow study hall students in the
library.
***
I was a student in the early 60's we had 5 study halls at one time.
The
student in the study hall connected to the library came and went on a no
more than 2 at a time. The other study halls would not let a student
out
unless they had a pass from a teacher . the connected study hall was
the
every other day PE study hall so every student was in there every other
day.
Exception Rotc, band, ATHLETICS, CHEERLEADERS AND DRILLTEAM.
I WOULD NOT keep a study hall in the day and age with out a whip and a
chair. You have to stay on they for them to stay busy.
***
The way we avoid it in our large urban district (since it's hard to keep
track of how many study halls there are, which rooms, etc.) Students get
pre-signed library passes from our library staff. That way a study hall
is presented with the library pass, signs off on the bottom next to our
signature, and is allowed to come down. Though, this definitely puts the
work on you and your staff.
For us, it's useful because if there are 1-2 classes, we will not give
out passes for that period or severely limit them. Since our classes run
on a odd/even day schedule, we often give them a "week pass" for the
days that will follow that schedule.
***
My principal and I worked out this policy. I have a total of 16 students
per
study hall. The study hall teacher determines who may sign up to come to
the
library for that study hall period. I have a slip I provide - I give
each
study hall teacher a stack every 6 weeks. If there are two study halls
each
can send 8 students. Students who come to the library stay the whole
period.
If, after the 8 or 16 students have come to the library, another student
needs to just print out something or make a quick copy, they are given
a
"Short term" slip which must be signed by me with the time that student
left
the library and given to the teacher when he returns to the study hall.
This works well. I know from the list the teacher sends just who is to
be
here, the teacher knows who is in the library and it eliminates a lot of
coming and going.
***
I completely agree with you. We have a limit of 5 per study hall (there
are three hours where we have 6 study halls) and I've never had a
teacher think it's our job to decide who comes. Most teachers ask who
has projects, or go by rows- starting with a different row every day.
***
This is kind of perennial issue. My general philosophy is to
let anyone come who wants to in the hope that they will learn something.
I know that I have a number of students who only wish to "escape" study
hall, but if they are responsible once they come to the library, I can
live with that.
After struggling with too many bodies and too much noise year
after year, having fewer students lets me do my job much better. The
big drop came after the administration decided that a student needed to
see a teacher (and not their study hall teacher)in advance of coming to
the library. Students need to make an extra effort to come here now.
If they are failing some classes, this automatically keeps them out,
unless they have some very specific assignment to do. I have attached
my library guidelines to see if there is anything that you might use.
***
at my school, Alton High School, Alton,Il. we experimented for
awhile,but this is what works for us, right now- We are a school of
2,400. In the library I only have 11 computers so this is how it works-
the student who desires NOT to go to study hall must have a pass from a
subject area teacher, allowing the student to come to the library, if
they have an assignment to work on. The study hall monitors,who are not
teachers, are not allowed to write passes,and neither are
substitutes,unless it is a long term thing. This is because-how do they
know who has work to do and who is just socializing. Also, since the
study hall monitors are
paid to monitor the kids, why should they wiggle out of it- if too many
kids come here, no one can work. Each student comes right here and they
show me the pass. I sign the pass and it is returned to the teacher, so
the teacher knows the sudent arrived. The student signs in on a sheet of
paper, which is copied and sent to the attendence office. The att'd
clerk then excuses the studen'ts absence from the study hall- if a
student does not sign in, but skips out, they have an unexcused absence.
We actually use this model all day, every day and the whole situation is
much better these days. (at some points I have had to sit outside the
library doors and only let in people with passes. ) Another school does
it this way- each morning before 1st hour the sudentswho want passes
come to the library to get them- when the computers are full, no more
passes.The names are noted so that the passes cannot be traded and to
make sure that all who requested turned up. Both these metods put you in
control of the passes, not the student or the study hall teacher, who
will generally send you the pain in butts and keep the good kids for
themselves. It may sound cynical, but it works.
***
That is what I do also, Carrie. I often also get students directly form
a class if they need research or computer, etc. I limit our one SH to
15 total but our SHs now are so small that that is not much of an
issue.
I also send students back or ban them for a length of time depending on
the issue involved.
Carrie Fox
Librarian
South Park High School
South Park, PA
foxc@sparksd.org
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