3rd graders need recess

I want them tired out for my lesson.
As it happened today, one girl had her birthday and brought chocolate candy to share with everyone right before my lesson. Talk about sugar rush.

I think the system where the same group of students stays together all day creates some problems. The kids are grouped according to overall school performance, which means each English class has a wide variety of abilities. I have been against tracking in the past, but it is clear to me now that a competitive atmosphere spurs learning (to an extent) and huge skill ranges kill competition. If I was a perfect teacher, I would be able to design lessons where the stronger students help the weaker, but that would require all new class rules, different seating, etc. Even then, the weaker students need to learn how to read, even if it is a struggle, and stronger 6th graders don't seem to have the patience to wait for a weaker classmate to slowly read a passage. Group reading activities focused for these student's who don't yet read well bore the stronger students.

I propose a complete reorganization for at least the older grades, where they have their individual schedules, and may go to a high level biology class and a lower level English class. Now I see some students who I inspire to work harder on English, but they are stuck amongst students who do not want to work harder, and since I cannot simply teach my lessons to a few students, I get bogged down with motivating, exciting and disciplining and those who had some hope sit quietly at their desk, having already done all that I have asked, and stare out the window while I explain for the third time the task to a boy who is convinced that he will leave school, work in the factory, marry, have kids, hang out with his friends on the weekends and make ends meet even if he never makes enough money for a car or to pay for the tests and the bribes necessary to send his own kids to university. Plus you can buy a degree anyway. So why work in school to get good marks in order to attend a university where again they can't pick the classes they take and half the professors just read from their notes in order to get a degree which nobody believes is real?