Block Scheduling
...rs ask the question: Why change from our traditional schedule of classes? They wonder what is wrong with having six to eight class periods a day, meeting for 35 minutes at a time. Many critics have agreed that the pace of the day is very difficult. Teachers must prepare for five or six different classes in a day and deal with hundreds of different students. Many teachers will agree that they don’t have enough time in the small blocks to teach their lessons in depth. They don’t have the time for individual time with the students and they don’t become familiar with each other. Another concern for teachers is discipline in this type of scheduling. Many discipline problems occur between classes, and with so many classes the chances of having discipline problems increases. These are just a few of the disadvantages of the traditional model for scheduling, but there are many more that could be brought up. I now want to look at the advantages of using block scheduling. Larger blocks of time allow for more teachers to students interaction. It also allows for a more flexible and productive classroom environment. Other benefits include: more effective use of school time, decreased class size, increased number of course offerings, reduced numbers of students with whom teachers have daily contact, and the ability of teachers to use more process-oriented strategies. (Jeffrey Sturgis 1995) A study that was completed by Joseph Carroll on the use of block scheduling. He found that students were completing more of their course credits. He also found that the dropout rates and suspension rates have declined in some schools since implementing the block scheduling. Every school in his study has benefited from the change, but not all in the same ways. Another positive aspect of the block scheduling is that all classes can be completed in one semester. Many times if classes go throughout the whole year, students will become drained by the end of the year and their grades will drop. With the block scheduling you can concentrate on the subject for one semester and not have to think about it everyday for a year. It also gives certain students the opportunity to retake the class if they had failed previously. This will only help increase graduation rates. I believe that using the block scheduling would be a good model to use for your school scheduling purposes. Throughout my experiences in high school I always felt cheated in my education. I never felt like I could go and talk to my teachers because they never had time in class to interact with us. With block scheduling you are given to the chance to work on more of a one on one basis with your teacher. They can explain the material to you more in depth. Block scheduling also allows the students for opportunities for cooperative learning. I really benefited from group work in high school. I seemed to recall the material easier because I could remember exactly what we did in the group activity. I also think that block scheduling will cut down on discipline problems. There wi...