Reply to APS ending block scheduling?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I’m a teacher.  Learning to teach blocks was hard.  Takes a lot of creativity to keep them engaged and keep it moving, and it’s important to do so- 90 minutes is long. As a parent, there are advantages and disadvantages to both.  Would love math and language every day.  Also like that my kid can focus on homework and prep for 3-4 classes a day instead of 7.  I think I could go back, but I do wish we’d pick a lane. [/quote]

You supposed to give them time to do class work so there is no homework. [/quote]In my experience this seems to result in kids doing a lot more self teaching.  I had daily 45 minute classes and the teachers would instruct for pretty much all of every class.  We then did practice at home as homework.  With block scheduling, it seems that teachers only offer instruction for the same 45 minutes or so every class, even with a 90 minute block, because that's as long as kids can focus.  So then kids use the second half of the block to do homework.  But since classes are only every other day, kids then end up learning missed content from YouTube or other videos and websites.  It seems like a really flawed model.  My kid has come home so many times with math that she says the teacher never showed them how to do.  That never happened when I was a kid.  The homework matched the lesson.[/quote]

Word to the wise, poke around a bit more.  When my kid says things like this to me, I say wow the teacher never taught you the material, I am going to email them and ask what is going on.  (Because if this is true, you in fact should say something and advocate for your child.)  Then my kid backpedals. A lot of the time, the real story is your kid is screwing around in class and not paying attention.  Your kid zoned out.  Or your kid didn't get it and then what they need to do is advocate for themselves and follow up with the teacher or yes, follow up at home on their own.

Do you really think teachers are in the habit of handing out homework that they never showed the kids how to do?  That would be gross incompetence.  If that's what is going on, do something about it.[/quote]
When my kid says something wasn't taught in class, she's usually already checked with friends, who don't know how to do it either.  I'll teach my kid and then she calls her friends to explain it to them.  So yeah, I do believe her.  It's also been verified by other parents, who were all discussing finding tutors at our last happy hour.  [/quote]

Say something to your school instead of exchanging teaching tips at happy hour.[/quote]
Reading comprehension, please. Parents weren't discussing teaching tips, but asking each other for tutor recommendations.  [/quote]

[b]Tutor recommendations is teaching tips.[/b]  The teacher is not covering content with your children (you say) and you are hiring tutors to teach your kids instead.

However, that is beside the point.  The point is say something to your school principal.[/quote]
That's total nonsense.

Parents are looking for solutions and we collectively know that going to the principal isn't going to help.  A tutor is cheaper than private tuition.  None of that changes the issue--APS teachers are having students learn important content from a random assortment of websites and apps instead of providing direct instruction and that is incredibly ineffective.[/quote]

This is the first mention you all went to the principal.  What did he/she say?  Also, the story kind of changed.  They covered the content in a way you didn't like.  It's not they didn't cover the content at all?[/quote]
Your reading comprehension is terrible.  I never said we went to the principal, nor did my explanation of the issue change.[/quote]

You just know the principal won’t help.  Through your collective wisdom.  Gotcha.

[/quote]

The principal can buy textbooks and force teachers to provide grade level instruction? Sure, Jan.[/quote]

I don’t know why I’m engaging with this but if the root of your complaint is I want the teachers to stand in front of the room and lecture and teach out of a textbook because that’s how I believe teaching is done, no you’re probably not getting anywhere.

The original claim was the teachers do not cover the content of the course in any manner or at least that’s how you made it sound and yes I can read before that insult flies.  If this is going on, yes I think the counselor or an assistant principal or the principal would help.  [/quote]

No one wants teachers to stand in front of a class, reading a textbook line by line. But using a textbook has MANY benefits.

Students can go back through the text if/when they didn’t grasp the concept the first time it was taught.

Parents can have general awareness with what their child is learning, allowing them to step in and help if their child is struggling with a concept.

Material remains ON GRADE LEVEL, not dumbed down by the teacher winging it with Teachers Pay Teachers and gamified apps.[/quote]

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