I've always found it frustrating for myself as a teacher to run from one class to the other, get students settled down, take attendance, address or defer any hanging questions like "I wasn't here yesterday, did I miss something important?", getting the class rolling, only to be sidetracked with "I don't get it!" or "What page are we on?"
It doesn't matter if you are a master teacher or a novice one, you will be faced with distractions that take away from your very precious little time as it is. I've long time been a supporter of block scheduling in schools. I feel this gives both the students and the teachers enough time to settle into their work, have enough time to address/overcome questions above, have time to connect with students with "how was your weekend?", and finally feel enough comfort and continuity to finally focus on the content.
Now with the implementation of common core across the US, teachers are asking for longer class times to accommodate the new subject standards while criticizing the 40 minute periods as insufficient for group work asked of common core. Are American class periods too short for Common Core? gives some great examples of successful block scheduling being used in the classrooms.
Research Spotlight on Block Scheduling gives the pros & cons of block scheduling as well as links to additional research on the topic.
I've always appreciated the 3 hour work cycle proposed by Maria Montessori. It advocates for extended periods of time so students don't lose their flow. Within that time, "students are able to
freely choose work during this cycle and are able to develop better concentration skills and focus through this undisturbed work time...and allows the student the opportunity to engage in a work more thoroughly." Students who complete this 3 hour cycle feel a "sense of accomplishment followed by
calm composure, along with the desire to do more work" (Schmidt).
Furthermore, Montessori writes in The Advanced Montessori Method "frequent change of work causes greater fatigue than continuous work of one kind, and that a sudden interruption is more fatiguing than persistence.” In Montessori, The Science Behind the Genius, Dr. Angline Lillard writes, "“If we choose when to take breaks, then breaks work for us, but if the timing is externally imposed, breaks can be disruptive to concentration.”
Total agreement, I think blocks are very helpful- but they do have limitations. We use 2-4 hr blocks at our school (longer blocks for older students, smaller for younger). Teachers like these, students are blase as usual.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts as the dude-charge-of-scheduling is that the blocks don't offer a lot of consistency: students will have a different day-to-day experience most days of the week, especially as their begin taking more courses. Next semester we're trying out an experiment where we start each morning with an ESL speaking and listening seminar class (alinged with IELTS), then progress into block mode. We'll also be doing a quite afternoon reading hour. I'm hoping this will give students and teachers a little more grounding.
I was meeting with one of our local TA's and this idea came up, they mentioned that 1 hour isn't enough to accomplish anything. I defended the idea saying something akin to "my entire k-12 education was 50 minute blocks, and I'm OK" but, as you point out, we're interested in the opportunity cost of these bulwarked systems. Feel grateful to be part of a school that has some freedom to maneuver and experiment!
I went to a highschool with block scheduling but now teach in a district that does not do it. I think there are pros and cons. I think that it is valuable to have more than 50 in a highschool class to accomplish what needs to be done. On the con side, students don't get a lot of choice in what they can take if they are limited to 4 classes a day rather than 6-7.
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteInteresting topic. We use 5 75 minute hours and run trimesters. I feel the hours provide enough time for transitions, warm ups, and everything else on our plate. The neighboring high schools run a more traditional 6 55 minute hour day. We alter our schedule to offer students more individual instruction as well as allow them to catch up on credits. I honestly can't say the model that works best for kids.
Thanks!