Block Scheduling Advantages

Additionally, with the new bedtime, the work I didn’t have time for or forgot to do, would be able to be accomplished. Not only would I have the opportunity to work on more work, I would have more time to work on the specific work assigned. If I studied harder and longer, my grades would improve even more. The standard guideline for homework is that students should be spending 10 minutes for every grade they are in. First grade should be 10 minutes, and approximately 80 minutes for eighth-grade students. With more time to work, I could be capable of taking breaks in between different classes. Studies show breaks provide benefits including less procrastination and more focus and efficiency.

4x4 block scheduling would be easier.. Teachers have to teach 3 classes for 90 minutes each and get a 90 minute planning period, which gives teachers time to prepare for the class. Teachers even have less students to teach with the 4x4 schedule which means less papers to grade. Also for students, 4x4 block scheduling is less overwhelming than A/B. 8 classes at a time is a lot to handle and definitely a lot to remember. Students

Adding just an extra ten minutes to each class, the new schedule would create the potential for students to have more homework time, lab time, learning time, and/or valuable free time to read for pleasure, relax with music, draw, etc. (Hadfield). Especially as students get older and more involved in extracurriculars and rigorous academic courses, the need for any spare moment to get assignments done, study, or even sleep increases. When this time is unavailable or extremely hard to get, students are more likely to fall asleep in class, miss school due to illness, misbehave, cheat, hand in incomplete assignments, or drop out altogether. The same is largely true for teachers. The more homework turned in by students, the more grading has to be done by teachers who are already exhausted from a long, often repetitive day of work. Therefore, it is important to emphasize the fact that this extra time should not be used to cram in larger quantities of learning standards or homework problems, but rather to enhance the quality of the already demanding school regulations that are in schools

fatigue overwhelms you the whole day. Now imagine that you slept this was every night. Accomplishing simple tasks would be difficult if one is sleep deprived. Performing at your potential would almost be impossible. In order to get rid of these unforgettable feeling many people would sleep late and go to bed early. But with such early start times for high school many students feel sleep deprived and do not achieve their best. Doing so would improve students health. Some individuals feel that keeping the start times at their current time would be best for parents and school districts. However, many people believe that delaying school start times would positively

What is your least favorite class, the one you dread most? Picture yourself walking into that class, taking a seat, and watching the clock move slowly as you suffer through the next 90 minutes. Yes, you read that correctly. Imagine being stuck in your least favorite class for an hour and a half! This is a reality that many high school students experience every day. It is block scheduling. “Unlike traditional bell schedules - which typically comprise six to eight class periods per day, lasting anywhere from 45 to 60 minutes - block schedules contain just four daily class periods, with each one lasting an average of 90 minutes” (Block Scheduling in Schools 1). Although designed to increase student achievement, block schedules carry a number of disadvantages that make them an inadequate method for offering high school students a successful learning environment. Despite its few benefits, block scheduling works in direct conflict with most human attention spans, creates more scheduling problems than it solves, and lacks any solid evidence of improving student learning. In a world where educational practices come and go, block scheduling is a fad that should never have arrived in the first place.

Having seven classes one after the other, about forty-five minutes each is stressful. It's difficult to make all your classes a priority as it's a tight schedule. You have to worry about what you're doing in seven classes EVERY DAY. A report by the National Education Commission on Time and Learning advised: “schools to be less rigid in how they use time and urged the use of block scheduling and an extended school year”. It is important for schools to use the class hours wisely and effectively, not shoving in as much as they can into small timed classes. Advocates of block-scheduling say “longer classes create more opportunities for hands-on lessons and allow students to concentrate on their work for longer stretches without being interrupted by the ringing of a bell”. Allowing students more time to work puts less pressure of being ‘finished by the bell’. They also say less time is wasted. Block schedules reduce the time students use walking class to class, and the time it takes to get settled into the day's lesson. Once you decrease this time wasted and increase the learning period, students will feel less stress. They will have fewer things to worry about, as will the

In contrast to a traditional school schedule, a block schedule consists of different variations, such as A/B and 4x4 schedules. In an A/B schedule, classes meet every other day for an extended period of time. Students take eight classes throughout the year, taking four classes on A Days and alternating the other four on B Days.“The A days would be Monday, Wednesday, Friday, etc. Each class period

Although there is a preponderance of the evidence that supports the later start times for Middle and High schools, some people feel that the befits do not outweigh the costs that come along with starting school later in the day and that those obstacles s are too difficult to overcome. Many of these impediments are because of the fact that starting school at a later time would result in school ending at a later time in order for schools to meet the minimum about of hours they are required to have in the day. In other words, the time being taken away at the beginning of the day has to be added to the end. The competitiveness of getting into colleges requires that high school students participate in numerous extra-curricular activities and/or

High school students should have a later starting time in school due to students not getting the amount of sleep they need to function. Students that stay up late at night are way too tired to learn when they get to school early in the morning. Most students who do stay up late are unable to sleep due to melatonin not yet being produced. This shows that starting school at a later time would have many positive benefits. These benefits include higher test scores, increased attendance, more participation from students, and higher performance from athletes.

According to a U.S. News report, the top two schools in California are Whitney High School and Stockton Collegiate International Secondary School. When I looked over their schedules, I found that both of these schools follow a block schedule and, while it may seem like a distant goal, these schools represent the possible advancement of the LCHS district if given the opportunity to explore the block schedule. Dr. Nesa Sasser of the Hearst Newspaper, recently wrote an article about the benefits and downfalls of the block schedule. She wrote that, by starting a block period schedule, teachers will be able to plan lessons more effectively, connect with their students on a deeper level, and there will be better time management. During block periods, teachers become less limited in how they plan their lesson. They are able to go in depth about concepts that are important and are given time to give examples to further the students’ comprehension of these topics. Using these examples, teachers are then able to see where the class is falling short, and reteach confusing lessons, allowing for a greater understanding of the overall subject. By decreasing the amount of classes per day, students would then be able to focus on the homework they are given for their next classes, reducing the amount of homework they have to complete and the information that needs to be learned for that specific night. Students will also be able to go to sleep earlier, increasing overall health and focus during class, providing long term

In the article “Schools scrutinize block scheduling” Groves (2015) addresses the effects of block scheduling in Alamance-Burlington School System. He claims that implementing block schedules did not help this school system, and in fact has been detrimental to the students. Groves (2015) argues that before changing student schedules, enough research should be completed to determine whether this change will be helpful. With a traditional schedule, he says, students can slowly learn the information, instead of cram it in all at once. He believes that teachers and students should have a say in which schedule the school adopts. Groves (2015) concludes that block scheduling is an unnatural, ineffective way for students to learn.

Many students have jobs, family matters, or extracurricular activities, keeping them away from home late at night. Because of this they go to bed late and are exhausted the next day. Most administrators and adults think that teens complaining about school starting at 7:45AM is just classic teenage laziness, but it would benefit Saltillo High School to start school later. Many students choose to skip first block because of how exhausted they wake up feeling, and, consequently, they fall behind in their work and their grades show as much. Students that come to school on time, while they’re counted present, often learn as much as the ones who stayed at home. They either fall asleep during class or don’t pay attention to anything the teacher says.

The bell rang and we exited our English class at Floyd County High School (FCHS.) We were so overwhelmed with the work overload from the abundance of classes we had in one day, the miniscule amount of time in each period was certainly a struggle as well. By the end of the day, we were always so worn out! At FCHS, eighth grade students are expected to be responsible and carry all the work for eight classes. If you are able to associate with not having enough elaboration or time in a class, there could be a solution. This may mean that your school may need to reorganize its schedule. A necessity to a successful education environment is having a schedule that suits each student's needs. This schedule, the A-B Block, can assist you with time management, due dates, of various assignments, and significant classes.

“It is difficult to point to a single aspect of a middle school that has as much impact on the children and adults as does the schedule.” (Craig, 1995 p.22). Much of the research currently suggests that many schools that shift to block schedules need to take the time and effort to not only do their own research for an appropriate model that works for their school, but to also follow a thorough and focused process to develop a schedule that benefits teacher, students and the community at large. All variations of block scheduling need to be considered, particularly at the middle school level. Unlike high school, middle schoolers have the need for more continuous and ongoing instruction. (Mowen & Mowen 2004). Schools that have implemented block schedules with success continue to stress the need to customize and refine the schedule repeatedly before they begin the shift. The ultimate goal of any school schedule should be that it is flexible and that is should meets the needs of the school, and therefore must be developed by the school itself (Craig, 1995, Mowen & Mowen 2004).

As I was going through the materials for this module I also noticed a lot of similarities between the early 20th and 21st century. I already mentioned it in my post, but I thought the history behind block scheduling was pretty cool. I like how you pointed out that progressive schools and schools today both have vocational education, and while some continue to see students who are in vocational programs/classes as being tracked into them, it is a lot less limiting today than it was then.