Reply to Block Schedules

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Block was implemented at the MS where I teach purely to eliminate passing periods.  If there are half as many opportunities to be in the hallways, there are half as many opportunities for fights, thefts, vandalism, etc.

It was not done for academic reasons at all.

Now that we've had it for 6 or 7 years, science/english/social studies/PE want to keep it.  Electives, math, and language can't stand it.  It would be amazing if somehow we could pair up classes (math + language) to make a whole block, so kids came to me for the first half of the block, and then swapped to the Spanish teacher for the second half of the block (while I took her kids).

The reality is that in a 90 minute block with 25 fidgety 13 year olds, a good 20+ minutes are wasted on time filler "brain breaks" and distractions in an attempt to break up the lesson.  I feel like I am a good teacher--never more than 10 minutes of lecture (teach/activity/teach/activity/teach/activity), but even still 90 minutes is too long.

The kids are 50/50 on whether they prefer our anchor day or the block days.  Arguments in favor of block are avoiding classes they don't like every other day, being able to delay assignments, and carrying less stuff.  Arguments in favor of anchor days are less overwhelmed by the amount of material, no time to get bored in classes, and missing a day due to being sick isn't a big deal, because it's less material covered.  My algebra students complain that if you are sick on a math day, they feel like there is no chance to ever catch up because we do a new standard (or two or three!) every single block.  It's hard :\[/quote]

What school? [/quote]

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