Have you looked at the clock and started packing up way before the bell rang? This is a common problem most teachers have faced with students in their classes as the clock on the wall shows incorrect time. As digital time is located on our phones, it is surprising that students only know how to read a manual clock when class is almost over.
This issue spreads along most classrooms here at Niles West. As teachers have been irritated with lessons being cut off by the noise of backpacks zipping up and chairs moving, the clocks on the wall have been throwing off the time for everyone.
Niles West teacher Mr. Scott Baum voices his frustrations with the delayed clock in his classroom.
“It seems to be that our clocks are a little ahead of time here. I think sometimes students tend to look at it to see the time. Though I hate to see every one of my students leave every day, I think sometimes they get cheated out a couple of minutes because they pack up a couple of minutes early. Then I look at my phone, and I see that really we still have a couple minutes left of class, so it is kind of a weird predicament, ” Baum said.
Mr. Baum shares ideas that could replace the clocks.
“Well, I am on the staff council and we talked about this before and some people say we should have digital clocks because these clocks have been up since I was in school,” Baum says.
For most students, they feel unaffected by the clock, as for them class gets out minutes earlier. Senior, Flavia Ardelean expresses how the clock affects her.
“I feel like the clocks being off doesn’t really affect me that much because when I go to look for the time, I look at my phone or computer. But, as for the teacher looking at the clock, and the bell ringing, not letting us pack on time, [it] affects me being late to my next class sometimes,” Ardelean said.
Assistant Principal Steve Parnther expresses how the clock problem can be fixed.
“So I think, and I work with my building and grounds director Mr. Holleran, we have to assess which of the clocks are off, so we work with Interstate, and they are third-party vendor so to speak. They also do work with our intercoms, so our intercom and clock system are in sync, that way the bell rings at that particular time. Now if the clocks are off, we have to adjust, so the first goal would be to asses which clocks are off and which are pre-reset, to make sure that all the clocks are on the same time. Of course, we don’t want students packing up, we want to maximize instructional time, so we want to make sure that it’s up to date,” Parnther said.
The fixture of the clocks will benefit both students and teachers, resulting in clearer thoughts and a decrease in confusion.
“I got to be honest with you, sometimes it is weird, like it’s time to go, but it is not really time to go. To do that a couple of times a day, I look at the clock, or my students look at the clock and I wonder, why can’t they just get the right time?” Baum said.
