econlife - The Best Reasons For Later School Start Times by Elaine Schwartz

Last September, a bill flopped in the California state legislature. Advocating an 8:30 (or later) start time at schools, it fell far short of the votes it needed. Currently they are reconsidering.

I wonder if those lawmakers know they are really talking about the GDP.

The Wake up Call

In California. the average school start time is 8:07. By moving it 23 minutes later, we could diminish tardiness and car accidents. Researchers hypothesize also that graduation rates would rise.

Studies show that teens would go to bed at the same time but sleep later if school began after 8:30. They would also get better quality sleep during the morning hours. In dollars, a Rand study reports that after the initial cost, the benefit to California alone would be $10 billion ($83 billion for the entire U.S.) if you just project fewer auto accidents (20% of teen accidents from sleepiness) and higher graduation rates. From there, they say, students then move onward to better jobs and more of an economic contribution.

The predicted gains in state domestic product could be considerable:



As did I, you might suspect that some of this reflects a statistical leap. But even when we consider the high cost of compressed bus schedules and lighting for later activities, the basics make sense.

Our Bottom Line: Human Capital

Really, we are just talking about human capital. As a resource that fuels economic growth, human capital includes our education, entrepreneurial spirit, and health. With U.S. economic growth at a 2.2% rate for Q1 (2018) and 4.1% for Q2 (2018), maybe we could sustain the increase by giving adolescents a bit more sleep?

And finally, I could not resist this xkcd cartoon. After all, the impact of sleep deprivation extends far beyond teens.



My sources and more: This LA Times article tells about the California schools sleep bill rejection while this site has the update. But for a report chock full of detail, do look at the original paper from Rand or this summary.

Please note that I repeated several phrases from a past econlife post on the same topic.

Ideal for the classroom, econlife.com reflects Elaine Schwartz’s work as a teacher and a writer. As a teacher at the Kent Place School in Summit, NJ, she’s been an Endowed Chair in Economics and chaired the history department. She’s developed curricula, was a featured teacher in the Annenberg/CPB video project “The Economics Classroom,” and has written several books including Econ 101 ½ (Avon Books/Harper Collins). You can get econlife on a daily basis! Head to econlife.

Back-To-School Bag Giveaway!!!

Back-To-School Bag Giveaway!!!

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**This contest is only for U.S. Residents and expires August 31st, 2016.**

We're selecting (5) Facebook AND (5) Twitter winners randomly.

So hurry, Like, Share, Like and Share....

Advice to New Teachers by Mike Siekkinen

Welcome, new teachers! We’re glad to have you “in the trenches” with us. You’ll probably receive “loads” of advice. Most veteran teachers want to help you and one of those ways is to advise you about how they do things.

Just remember that they will tell you often what works for them. This does not always mean it will work for you. With that being said, let me give you some (more!) advice that can save you. One of the biggest things about being a teacher is keeping track of all of the things occurring with your students/parents and administration. You can quickly become overloaded with all of the requirements/forms/contacts you will be required to keep track of. The start of school this year, I was required to send home for signature or just information, 10 separate items for each student. Each of these completed forms needed to be alphabetized and compiled and then sent to a different person within our school. Come up with a file system that works for you. This could be an accordion folder, separate file folders, a desk drawer where you put all of these type of documents or whatever "works" for you.

The next phase of this will be student work. How will you keep track of it? Where will it be turned in and what do you do when it is graded? Think about these things, try something and if it doesn't work, try something else. Just don't "quit trying". Your first year is the roughest, just hold on for the ride! It will and does get easier as your "teacher bag of tricks" gets fuller and you “survive" that first formidable year.

New teachers, do you have anything you need to know about? Veteran teachers, any specific advice to share with the new teachers?

Dr. Mike Siekkinen, a retired U.S. Navy submariner, became a teacher as a second career. He teaches history at St Marys Middle School as well as Adult and Career Education at Valdosta State in Georgia.

Back to School Dreams by Andrew Jobson

Back to School Dreams

I don’t usually remember my dreams, but the time of year is approaching when some of my most vivid dreams have occurred.  I remember one where I was back on stage for my senior play, Oklahoma! Unfortunately, I could no longer remember my lines—I was very surprised to find myself on stage and wondered how on earth I had gotten there.  Of

course, all eyes were on me, and I stumbled through “It’s a Scandal, It’s an Outrage” as best I could, but it was extremely embarrassing. However, at least one other dream topped it. In this one, I was standing in front of a classroom of teenagers, and I found myself trying desperately to think of what I was supposed to be teaching.  Once again, I felt as though I had dropped into another dimension with no preparation. To further my distress, I realized a few minutes into the dream that I had somehow forgotten to wear slacks.

That was probably the dream that helped me figure out what was going on.  (Some of you may be saying at this point, what took you so long?)  Why did these dreams tend to occur in late summer?  Because I was worrying about getting back up in front of a classroom and not being prepared, of having my weaknesses exposed.  Such dreams were a spur to throw myself back into planning after a few months doing something else.

I’m not sure whether to be grateful for these dreams, or not. Thankfully, they seem to have diminished in more recent years. Of course, maybe that’s just because, after twenty years in the classroom, my memory is getting weaker rather than the dreams.

Sleep tight!


An educator of 22 years, Andy Jobson has taught government, economics, and U.S. History. Currently teaching English literature at Riverside Military Academy in Gainesville, GA, he’s also been an administrator, a STAR teacher twice, and taught elementary school with Teach for America. 

What to Do on the First Day by Scott Harris

"Why are we here?" I ask my new students. "Why did you come to school today?"

Typically, they are stunned by the question. Their faces seem to be asking, "Where are the rules? The syllabi? Why are you asking us to talk on the first day?"

By now, some student will say, "Because there's a law!" After the laughs quiet down, I ask, "So the law is why you came here today? If there were no law, you wouldn't be here?" (Ninety percent of such clever students don't respond. They realize that they are here for more than the law.) We rapid-fire a list of their reasons: to see their friends, they're bored from the summer, to learn, etc.

Quickly, the better students start connecting education with the quality of their future. While this is hopeful, it is also shallow. They say, "We're here to learn so we can get good grades."

I ask, "Why do you need good grades?"

They respond, "So we can get into a good college?"

"So you got up today to get good grades, so you can get into a good college?"

"And what then, after college?" In a satirical tone, I pretend I am one of them. "I don't know, sir, good grades, good college, good life. No one told me I had to think past that."

I ask, "What is the good life after college?"

One student inevitably suggests making lots of money, but others quickly pick this apart. Eventually one will offer, "To be happy."

"What does it mean to be happy?"

"Are you going to give us any answers," exclaims a frustrated student, "or just keep asking us questions?"

"I ask questions," I say. "I'm still figuring out some of these myself. But it seems to me that while happiness may be subjective, there are certain characteristics of human nature -- love, respect, security, and yes, even a certain amount of money -- that are necessary to be happy."

We start discussing what a liberal art education is and how it contributes not only to good grades and college, but the good life. ("Why take Chemistry?" I ask. You can imagine the line of questioning.)

By now, the bell catches us and there are lots of groans in disappointment. "That went so fast." "This was just getting interesting!" "I want to talk about this more!" 

I tell them, "I guess you'll have to come back tomorrow."

Walking out, I hear them say to each other, "This class is different" and "How come we don't talk about this in our other classes?"

What a shame that students can go until their junior year without really having talked much about why we're here.

Talking about why we're here has made the first day of school my favorite day.

During his 25 year career in education, Scott Harris has taught U.S. & World History, Philosophy, I.B.’s Theory of Knowledge, and coached swimming & water polo. He currently teaches AP Psychology & Macroeconomics at Ronald Regan H.S. in San Antonio, TX.