APS ending block scheduling?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the middle schools have an anchor day and the high schools don't. I think it works better without the anchor day. That way teachers and kids get used to the longer block schedules. I see pros and cons of switching back to 45 min classes, but I think the once a week anchor day was pretty much the worst since there were so few of them so no one was used to it.

Also it is pretty rich to see school board members worried about the lack of routine with block schedules when they have constructed a school year with about a million random days off.

DHMS has mostly gotten rid of anchor days this year. I think there have only been three, and one was the first day of school. We were told both teachers and students didn't like anchor days, so they were being minimized.

This is not DHMS specific. We’ve had almost no anchor days, because we had barely any 5-day-weeks of school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the middle schools have an anchor day and the high schools don't. I think it works better without the anchor day. That way teachers and kids get used to the longer block schedules. I see pros and cons of switching back to 45 min classes, but I think the once a week anchor day was pretty much the worst since there were so few of them so no one was used to it.

Also it is pretty rich to see school board members worried about the lack of routine with block schedules when they have constructed a school year with about a million random days off.

DHMS has mostly gotten rid of anchor days this year. I think there have only been three, and one was the first day of school. We were told both teachers and students didn't like anchor days, so they were being minimized.

This is not DHMS specific. We’ve had almost no anchor days, because we had barely any 5-day-weeks of school.

NP but DHMS specifically said they were getting rid of anchor days, separate from the fact that there haven’t been many 5 day weeks. So even when there are 5 days weeks DHMS doesn’t have an anchor day anymore (as of this year).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is in college now and found that the block scheduling prepared them well for the long twice a week classes. Their friends who never had block have more of an adjustment. The 50 minute 3x a week classes actually felt like breeze in college.

+1. My kids loved block scheduling too. It prepared them well for college and also helped them figure out how to manage their time regarding homework and assignments.

But it’s nothing like college. That’s a fake equivalency. College classes are not as long, you can get up and go the bathroom easily or go get a breath of fresh air, you don’t have 4 classes a day.

College kids who came from block schedule schools have an easier time with college schedules. I've seen it play out more than once. And, there are definitely 90 minutes classes and some kids are in class all day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It will result in more time wasted. We all know it takes a good chunk of the beginning of each period to get everyone settled and on task. At least with block scheduling, there’s still a large amount of time left to accomplish something.

No it won't. 90 minutes of math is just waaay too long to keep kids engaged. So much time wasted. I hate block scheduling, didn't like it back when they picked it up and went with it as the latest fad. I'm not surprised it didn't deliver. Go back to the regular class schedule now that the data isn't there to keep it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It seems like there should be other options than those they are considering. My high school had slightly longer classes (maybe 55 min?) and each one met 4 times a week. That worked pretty well.

It is also not clear to me how they are going to handle science labs if the classes are all 45 minutes. How does HB handle that now?

Also, I worry if some high school teachers near retirement may just retire instead of completely revamping their classes. I know my kid is taking one class that is never taught during the daily shorter period since the teacher has really designed it for the block schedule. It is going to be a lot of work to restructure that class.

The AP sciences are double periods at HB.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My junior regularly takes tests that are longer than 45 minutes. The one year he had math in the daily 45 minute block, the tests were spread over 2 days. Which fine, but really opens up even further opportunities for cheating which is already a problem.

For the AP classes that involve writing, it's impossible to do writing tasks as given on the AP test in 45 min. Meaning if your exam is a DBQ or LEQ, when are you ever practicing these or being tested on this? I wonder how HB handles this.

Well how did the high schools handle this before block scheduling? It hasn't always been this way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My junior regularly takes tests that are longer than 45 minutes. The one year he had math in the daily 45 minute block, the tests were spread over 2 days. Which fine, but really opens up even further opportunities for cheating which is already a problem.

For the AP classes that involve writing, it's impossible to do writing tasks as given on the AP test in 45 min. Meaning if your exam is a DBQ or LEQ, when are you ever practicing these or being tested on this? I wonder how HB handles this.

Over 45 min math test? At APS? That’s ridiculous.

Aren’t AP writing tasks not “write all this in 90 minutes in one passage”, but multiple sections? We have had APs for decades, and I’m sure it’s a solvable problem.

Comments like these are so puzzling to me. It's like the no one has homework and everyone gets an A posters. Do you even have kids in high school taking most rigorous classes?

My DS goes to a school with 45 minute schedule, and has take 5 APs and got a 1550 on SAT. But let’s be honest, when you have a kid like this you don’t hear how the sausage is made, they and the teachers make it work.

+1 It's working just fine at my kids' school too and I'm so glad they are not at a block schedule school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is in college now and found that the block scheduling prepared them well for the long twice a week classes. Their friends who never had block have more of an adjustment. The 50 minute 3x a week classes actually felt like breeze in college.

+1. My kids loved block scheduling too. It prepared them well for college and also helped them figure out how to manage their time regarding homework and assignments.

But it’s nothing like college. That’s a fake equivalency. College classes are not as long, you can get up and go the bathroom easily or go get a breath of fresh air, you don’t have 4 classes a day.

College kids who came from block schedule schools have an easier time with college schedules. I've seen it play out more than once. And, there are definitely 90 minutes classes and some kids are in class all day.

I don't believe this for a minute, sorry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think this review is driven by the - everything is better at HB - crowd. They have 45 minute blocks daily. Nevermind plenty of us don't think everything is better at HB.

The reason HB has this schedule (8 45 minute blocks) is they have to in order for high school kids to be able to participate in sports at their home high school. It's not some educational choice. They have to build a block into the end of the school day for transportation, basically.

Not true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is in college now and found that the block scheduling prepared them well for the long twice a week classes. Their friends who never had block have more of an adjustment. The 50 minute 3x a week classes actually felt like breeze in college.

+1. My kids loved block scheduling too. It prepared them well for college and also helped them figure out how to manage their time regarding homework and assignments.

But it’s nothing like college. That’s a fake equivalency. College classes are not as long, you can get up and go the bathroom easily or go get a breath of fresh air, you don’t have 4 classes a day.

College kids who came from block schedule schools have an easier time with college schedules. I've seen it play out more than once. And, there are definitely 90 minutes classes and some kids are in class all day.

I don't believe this for a minute, sorry.

Ignorant take, but you do you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My junior regularly takes tests that are longer than 45 minutes. The one year he had math in the daily 45 minute block, the tests were spread over 2 days. Which fine, but really opens up even further opportunities for cheating which is already a problem.

For the AP classes that involve writing, it's impossible to do writing tasks as given on the AP test in 45 min. Meaning if your exam is a DBQ or LEQ, when are you ever practicing these or being tested on this? I wonder how HB handles this.

Well how did the high schools handle this before block scheduling? It hasn't always been this way.

Kids practice at home, it’s up to them to simulate test conditions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is in college now and found that the block scheduling prepared them well for the long twice a week classes. Their friends who never had block have more of an adjustment. The 50 minute 3x a week classes actually felt like breeze in college.

+1. My kids loved block scheduling too. It prepared them well for college and also helped them figure out how to manage their time regarding homework and assignments.

But it’s nothing like college. That’s a fake equivalency. College classes are not as long, you can get up and go the bathroom easily or go get a breath of fresh air, you don’t have 4 classes a day.

College kids who came from block schedule schools have an easier time with college schedules. I've seen it play out more than once. And, there are definitely 90 minutes classes and some kids are in class all day.

I don’t get how this works. In college you might only take 4 classes a semester. You aren’t taking seven classes all year long. Plus you pick York schedule and maybe you have hours in between each class. I’d prefer no block schedule because I think consistency in learning (esp language and math) would make things easier. But whatever. My kids will be long gone. College was so unlike high school I don’t think the schedule matters - but the rigor of classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems like there should be other options than those they are considering. My high school had slightly longer classes (maybe 55 min?) and each one met 4 times a week. That worked pretty well.

It is also not clear to me how they are going to handle science labs if the classes are all 45 minutes. How does HB handle that now?

Also, I worry if some high school teachers near retirement may just retire instead of completely revamping their classes. I know my kid is taking one class that is never taught during the daily shorter period since the teacher has really designed it for the block schedule. It is going to be a lot of work to restructure that class.

The AP sciences are double periods at HB.

NP. (Most) AP sciences are double periods at all of the APS high schools, not just HB.

I can see pros and cons of both systems… we didn’t have block scheduling and still managed to take AP classes, be ready for college, etc. But I can see a benefit of longer periods for some high school subjects. Less so for middle school.

[Anonymous]

It depends on the kid. My kid has adhd and he just checks out after a certain point in class. Also, because of all the days off, some of the classes meet so infrequently that he forgets stuff. We have been fortunate in him having math during the 3d period (everyday) block for three of his four years. Block scheduling is bad for my kid and I would love to see it only plus is that he doesn’t have the situation where he has homework in every class in one day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is in college now and found that the block scheduling prepared them well for the long twice a week classes. Their friends who never had block have more of an adjustment. The 50 minute 3x a week classes actually felt like breeze in college.

+1. My kids loved block scheduling too. It prepared them well for college and also helped them figure out how to manage their time regarding homework and assignments.

But it’s nothing like college. That’s a fake equivalency. College classes are not as long, you can get up and go the bathroom easily or go get a breath of fresh air, you don’t have 4 classes a day.

College kids who came from block schedule schools have an easier time with college schedules. I've seen it play out more than once. And, there are definitely 90 minutes classes and some kids are in class all day.

How can you even make the comparison? I don’t think my kids know what schedule their classmates had in high school?

Sure they may have two full days a week, but it’s not 5 days of 90 minute blocks.