I must admit that I do not like change. That is, if I think that things are going well, I do not want to deviate away from something that is known to work well into something that may not. The block schedule was one of those things for me. I had worked with a traditional schedule where each class is hit each day for 45-50 minutes for the first 14-15 years of my teaching career. I had developed my curriculum and my labs for each unit to fit into 45-50 minute classes. I had several concerns with going to the block schedule. How was I going to change my curriculum to fit 70+ minutes of class time? Would I have to start from scratch? I also was very concerned that middle school aged students could not sit for that amount of time in one class period.
After the shock of moving into the first year with the changes I had to make within my curriculum, I was very pleasantly surprised at how well the block system worked. The extra time in each class period was a total benefit for science classes. I could get more done, have my students work on more complex labs and lessons. It made me realize that when I would look at doing a new lab within the traditional schedule, and I thought it was difficult lab, I would skip it and find something comparable that was more simple. I would do this because of trial and error of doing such things over the years. The extra time of the block schedule allowed me to attack some of those labs or lessons that I didn't dare to tackle before. As far as the extra time that was required for students to sit in each class, it was not a factor. As long as lessons are meaningful and students are busy, it made no difference if the class was 45 minutes or 75 minutes.
I hope we never move away from the block schedule. Sometimes change is good, and this was one of those times. Sometimes it also feels like those in charge always want to bail ship and jump on the next latest and greatest only to bail ship again and again. This was one of those times where I felt it was beneficial and feel glad our school made the move.
I have been teaching on the block schedule at the high school level for most of my career. I also feel that the block schedule is better for instructional time. I would not like to go back to the traditional schedule. As I reflect on the traditional schedule it seemed as though we where always on the move. One class was just getting started when it was time to end. The block schedule has allowed for more effective teaching and learning.
ReplyDeleteStephen