Block scheduling: A square deal?
Under this system, a normal class schedule would be split into two alternating groups of 3-4 classes of 90 minutes each.
November 10, 2016
PRO Block schedule
Working through all six periods in one day can be exhausting for many students. Knowing that there there is a project due for history, three hours of reading for English and an essay on why Andrew Jackson was a controversial president for history can be overwhelming. Reducing the number of classes students have to go through in one day be an immense relief on the busy lives of students.
Whether it is the alternate day scheduling, the 4×4 semester plan, where students meet for roughly four 90 minute classes every quarter, or the trimester plan, all forms of block scheduling help to condense information and give more time to both the instructor and the student.
What comes with a longer period is longer instruction time. Since block schedule classes are significantly lengthier than the typical six period timed classes, teachers have more time to teach and go over previous material. If the students do not understand the way the lesson is taught the first time, there is enough time for the teacher to try and explain the material in another way.
Longer class time allows for more in depth analysis of material, and it makes it easier for teachers to incorporate different activities that they may not have time for in a traditional schedule. In the alternate day scheduling, the number of students a teacher sees in one day limited, making it easier on the teacher by having about three classes to teach in one day.
For students, longer class time means that they have more time to absorb the info they are taught and can ask the teacher for further help if necessary. Students are more engaged in class since they are focused on a single subject over a long period of time rather than switching between class to class. The increased focused and longer instruction time increases the likelihood that a student absorbs and recalls the information that they were taught, according to a study at Brown University.
Students who focus on fewer subjects in one day can devote themselves to learning three or four lessons in comparison to six or seven. For high school students, having to concentrate on multiple different subjects can be challenging when burdened by extra curriculars and other outside activities. Without having to deal with the pressure of having tons of homework and numerous tests, students would have more time to relax and carefully study the material.
The goal of block scheduling is to try and relieve some tension from the bustling lives of high school students. Whether it is because they are able to actually understand the calculus lesson that day or because the difference between endothermic and exothermic reactions were drilled into students’ heads, longer lessons will bring several benefits for students.
CON Block schedule
Meant to keep students from stress and overworking, block schedules have been used by various schools aiming to improve students’ chances for success.
The point of block scheduling is to allow students to learn more in one sitting. Doubling the class period, the reasoning goes, produces a more relaxed environment and more time for both homework and in-class learning.
However, students who have a block schedule compromise their education for a seemingly less-strenuous routine.
On an almost hourly basis, students squeamishly sit in their chairs in anticipation for the bell to ring. For teenagers with 20 minute-long attention spans, staying in one place for 54 minutes is enough to send them fidgeting.
It is incredibly difficult for a class to last almost two hours and still hold the unwavering attention of a room full of antsy 14-18 year olds notorious for their lack of attention.
Fearing that students do not have the ability to keep up for the entire 90 minutes, schools with block schedules are forced to fill their class times with several shorter lessons or with “fun” activities that keep students entertained and focused. Classes will have to be filled with creative labs, “educational games”, and lively extended group discussions in order to engage students in the long period of time.
While advocates of block schedule claim that the longer class times give teachers more time to plan, unless the teacher is shockingly talented in being able to come up with both educational and entertaining assignments that are equally as informative than a regular class period would be, students are losing productive class time in which they would otherwise use developing a better idea of the subject and actually learning.
Furthermore, 90 minutes of a subject twice a week is significantly less class time than taking the class for 50 minutes daily. Students are actually losing about 10% of essential class time by splitting up their schedule in this way.
Students need daily exposure to subjects to be able to effectively retain information, particularly in topics that require continuity. For students struggling in say, math, having a block schedule makes it too easy to ignore the problems they have in the class if they are only being subjected to that particular topic twice a week.
A student who takes elective classes will have even less effective school days, as 90-minute chunks of one’s six hour school day would be filled with a class like band or woodshop. The implementation of block schedules lumps together classes that would fare better to students in daily doses rather than sitting through hours of class.
The arguments for extra time to do homework and study simply do not stand up to the fact that students who undergo block schedules are losing a significant portion of information in their daily class that could be essential to a student’s learning experience.