Block Schedule: A System that Works
Of all the things this school offers to its students, block schedule is one of the best. It’s something that helps set this school apart from many others.
Block schedule allows students to take just three one and a half hour classes a day (excluding early morning and after school opportunities) instead of the more traditional schedule offering six 45 minute classes. This is very beneficial for both students and teachers and simply makes school easier.
Block schedule allows teachers to go much more in depth with the material they are teaching. For example, many science labs take a significant amount of time for the set up and clean up, and cannot be done in separate parts.
In a traditional 45 minute period, it would not be uncommon for half that time to be taken up by the lab setup. Instead this school’s block schedule gives students ample time for these activities.
Even more time is saved with block schedule in that there are significantly fewer passing periods, meaning students have less wasted time walking between classes.
It could be said that the traditional schedule allows students to more easily retain information because the classes last year long. However, many students have year-long rotating classes available to them in the block schedule if they choose to take them.
While having longer classes does mean more homework per class, block schedule allows students to focus in on particular subjects instead of having to switch gears several times every night as they struggle with 6 different subjects. It is much easier to focus in on a few particular classes each night.
If students are not taking rotating classes, block schedule gives them the ability to have a completely fresh set of classes at the end of each semester. This keep things interesting and allows students to stay more engaged because they are not learning the same materials every day of the school year.
Despite all these benefits, there are admittedly some cons to block schedule. Such long classes make it very hard to focus consistently It definitely can get boring in and hour long lecture followed by busy work. This is made worse if students do not like the subject, as they get stuck with it every day for extended periods of time. This turns classes into extended sleeping periods for some students.
However, Teachers can mostly get past this problem as long as they introduce interesting ways to learn the subject matter instead of constant 90 minute lectures.
Despite these few negatives, block schedule is a blessing. Its benefits far outweigh its drawbacks. Block schedule is a source of sanity in this highly competitive academic world.
