Reply to APS Block Schedule - 90 minute core classes

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I’m a HS teacher and have never taught anything but block. We don’t lecture the entire 88 minutes. In my class it looks like this: warm up activity/attendance question, independent reading, maybe a journal prompt, mini lesson and group practice, independent practice. Or, warm up/read/journal prompt, “workshop” time where some kids are drafting, some are revising, some are in a small group with me while I reteach something.  [/quote]

Thank you for posting (and for teaching). Very helpful. One question. My high school English class (45 minutes, each day) involved the teacher giving a mini-lesson and then leading a discussion of the themes/literary techniques for stories/books we read for homework for the rest of class. Sometimes, kids would keep a journal as they did their assigned reading at night, to document their thoughts to be better able to discuss in class. If a paper was due, the teacher might focus her mini-lesson on writing techniques, using anonymized prior student writing samples to show what worked and what didn't.  Overall though, the focus in class was on analyzing the assigned reading we had done at home. I am sure you have rich class discussions as well but do you feel that the time spent in independent reading and work takes away time that could be spent in guided class analysis and discussion? Independent reading is surely important, but is there an advantage to doing it at school versus at home? Is the fear that not all kids read at home so this is a way to ensure that they do?[/quote]

The short answer is we do a lot of the reading in class (sometimes individually, sometimes as a group) because unless it’s an AP class you can’t assume the kids will have read on their own or that they did and understood well enough to have a thoughtful discussion. We do a lot of it in class because with work and activities kids will not go home and read it. This is especially true in an academic level or inclusion class where the kids legitimately need reading support to access the texts meaningfully. [/quote]

Thanks for this. If kids are struggling with reading and understanding the text, that's a significant challenge for them and you. Is it a language barrier for some? Are these kids that have graduated from EL but may still not have the reading skills needed for regular classes? [/quote]

[b]No. They’re actually really motivated to learn English and will read. It’s your basic Gen Ed kid who doesn’t like reading and would rather play video games or their phone than read a book at home. Very common.[/b] [/quote]

I'm an ESOL teacher and while I love my students, not all of them are motivated and love to read.  Same is true for gen-ed kids - some of them love to read and some don't.  It's annoying to hear generalizations like that.[/quote]

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