Research on block scheduling?
I don’t have any HARD, empirical evidence on BS (appropriateabbreviation, perhaps), but I do have the opportunity to conduct someinformal action research in my classroom this year since I have atraditional every-day French II class for 50 minutes and anevery-other-day block French II for 95 minutes. The kids in the blockclass are beginning to whine and complain that they wish they were inthe traditional class because some of them would really benefit greatlyfrom that every-day exposure and reinforcement. Unlike many on the listwho have sung the praises of BS, I would go back to the traditionalschedule tomorrow! I love seeing my students every day; I love having aprep period every day instead of every other day; and I hate the factthat I cover less material. To me the saying “less is more” is a myth, acute cover-up to justify a schedule that benefits administrators whodon’t have to deal with as many class changes, which certainly makestheir lives easier. Less is and will always be less!
I don’t have any HARD, empirical evidence on BS (appropriate abbreviation, perhaps), but I do have the opportunity to conduct some informal action research in my classroom this year since I have a traditional every-day French II class for 50 minutes and an every-other-day block French II for 95 minutes. The kids in the block class are beginning to whine and complain that they wish they were in the traditional class because some of them would really benefit greatly from that every-day exposure and reinforcement. Unlike many on the list who have sung the praises of BS, I would go back to the traditional schedule tomorrow! I love seeing my students every day; I love having a prep period every day instead of every other day; and I hate the fact that I cover less material. To me the saying “less is more” is a myth, a cute cover-up to justify a schedule that benefits administrators who don’t have to deal with as many class changes, which certainly makes their lives easier. Less is and will a
My two cents on blocks. This is my first year teaching two 4×4 blocks and I love it. It appears that the kids and their parents also approve. I am teaching more and, more importantly, the kids are really learning more. My best years in years. I have no failures – really! The kids’ main complaint is that they want to continue on to the next level next semester but cannot. I hope we can work around that kind of problem in the future. Block is not for everyone. I think that it really scared me and changed my mind set. I’m really prepared for class, usually lots of mini-blocks of time, much more organized with lots of short group activities. There is also more time for my/our HyperStudio projects. Mark Schaaf ====================== 96/11 From-> “Elizabeth M. Walsh”
