Reply to APS Block Schedule - 90 minute core classes

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I am a teacher who was strongly against 90 minute core classes in middle school.  I am in the process of changing my mind.

When it is poorly done, it is an abysmal mess; however, when it is done well, it is a sight to behold.  At my school, I see about a third of our teachers in a mess and the others, wow, it is amazing.  Even for subjects like math (which was the root of my previous objections).

It has taken a year or two for teachers to get the swing of it.  The pacing changes, you have to make large and also subtle changes to the way you teach the material, but it can be very effective.

Our school made a concerted effort to hold several different types of PD for teachers to talk about the pacing of the 90 minutes as well as pacing with regards to the overall curriculum.  That was very helpful.  Many of us needed to see examples of how we can manage the ebb and flow of 90 minutes.  What we've found is that the 90 minute block can be much less stressful on the children than the 50 or 55 minute block, which was sometimes almost frenetic because we had SO MUCH to accomplish that all we did was push, push, push.

Even with the last year being as difficult as it was on everyone, I could see positive changes occurring in our school's learning environment and outcomes for the children.  Standing in the hallway as kids leave classes this year, I see happy and enthusiastic students, who were engaged in active bell-to-bell learning ... without looking like they were being pushed and pummeled to race through material as they did when we had the shorter blocks.  We're not perfect but we're getting there.

Anyway, that's my two cents as someone who works at a school system that is not APS but it is NoVa.[/quote]

Thank you for this perspective, but I am curious with respect to math, if you are teaching at a slower pace, aren't you necessarily getting through less material by the end of the year?  And doesn't that have a compounding effect as students move up through the grades?  If not, can you explain how math teachers can teach as much math in 90-min. blocks at a slower pace while still covering the same content that was more rushed and stressful before with a traditional schedule?  I'm just not seeing how this works out.  Also seems like even in ideal circumstances after all the PD, you still only get certain teachers who are able to use the time effectively, so what happens to the kids who aren't lucky to have those teachers?[/quote]

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