There may be a change in the Flexible Instructional Time (FIT) next year. Rumors of three or even five days of FIT are circulating around campus.

 
This has me worried. We have had three days of FIT in preparation for EOC time for freshmen and sophomores. That hasn’t been so bad, it’s just one extra day, but if this time was extended to five days, that would just be too much. Making that kind of change would be crazy. I would rather have the time to do work in my real classes and not waste all that time.

 
I know I am not alone. When I go to many FIT sessions, I see students just sitting around and hanging out. They do this because they either don’t need help in their classes, or the FIT session they chose to attend is billed as a “study hall.”
Imagine five days of FIT for all those kids. 150 minutes a week of just sitting around. Seems like a big waste of time.
I will admit that FIT, in general, is a good thing. I like it because I can get help during school time and I don’t have to come to school early or stay after for an hour because I am in some sort of tutoring.

 
I know it has helped others too who need more time to get their work done and for all of the EOC testers I know the extra time getting ready was good. I also think one-on-one time with teachers is important.

 
But, I just don’t think we need five days a week of that kind of work. I think the way it was done this year was fine. Adding more days before testing, and keeping it to two days otherwise.

 
I have a couple of suggestions that might help with this desire by the administration to help those students who need more tutoring.
First, maybe we could have two days of FIT, but split that day up and have two different FIT sessions on those days. We would have FIT right after first and fifth for 30 minutes, and then have another 30-minute session between the last two periods of the day.
This would double the amount of time in FIT to 120 minutes a week, which isn’t as bad as the 150 minutes we would give up if we went five days a week. By doing that students could hit two different teachers in one day, or if they are really struggling in one class, they could go to that teacher twice.

 
This option would also mean two different schedules for a week like we currently have. And it would mean those seniors who have afternoon off periods could just go home before the afternoon FIT.

 
Another option would be to again stick with two days of FIT, but increase the length of the class to something reasonable like 45 minutes. This would mean 90 minutes a week in FIT, instead of the current 60 minutes, which helps everyone and still keeps it to two days.

 
Again in both cases the number of FIT days could increase at more important times like right before EOC.
Really my biggest hope is that I can have more time in my classes with my teachers in real class, instead of tutoring. I think the 150 minutes that would be reality in a five day FIT schedule should just be thrown straight out the window.