Block schedule Search Results

Making the Most of a 90-Minute Block

…much for letting me know that you’re getting good value from the podcast! sue I wish this information would come from our administrators who have recently told us we are going to 82 minute block in September. They have not done their homework… Josh Stock My school is currently trying to decide if we want a block schedule or traditional schedule next year. Many teachers want block schedule, but several subjects are concerned about not getting face-to-face time with kids daily for that repetition/daily practice (mainly math, foreign language, and music). Is there research either way on the benefits of…

The Apollo School: What 21st Century Learning Looks Like

…the semester, students are responsible for designing and completing four major projects, each of which is aligned with standards in all three subject areas. Students set their own goals for each day based on whatever project they happen to be working on at the time: This includes independent and group work, one-on-one appointments with teachers, and attending optional, self-selected mini lessons taught by the teachers. By lunch time, when the Apollo block is over, students resume a regular schedule for the rest of the day. How the Program Started Apollo began when Greg Wimmer, a social studies teacher, and English teacher…

Episode 62: The Apollo School

…they have a high interest in the subject. At the end of the Apollo block, students then resume a regular schedule for the rest of the school day. While you listen, think about how you might be able to apply this structure within your school. Maybe not this exact model, but something like it. Could you combine two class periods into one and join forces with another teacher? Could you offer formally delivered lessons as an option, but also allow students to work independently if their current project demands it? Could you make these shifts toward being more of a…

Episode 71: Why It’s So Hard for Teachers to Take Care of Themselves

…but the idea here is to just build in rest as a catalyst for productivity. Rest is a thing that allows you to get everything else done. So, time for recharging isn’t optional, it’s mandatory. You have to schedule in rest, just like anything else that’s important to you. GONZALEZ: So, the next tip, the next way to make this time? We’re building in some rest, and then what’s next? WATSON: So, the next thing is to streamline your schedule by looking at how you do fewer things better. Self-care can’t just be one more thing that you add to…

Episode 103: Deeper Class Discussions with the TQE Method

…and did you have just the one conversation with them? Because we’re still sort of working our way toward the system that you have now. THOMPSON: Correct. You’re right, yeah. So we would have about a half hour, 40-minute discussion. I’m on a block schedule. GONZALEZ: Okay, nice. THOMPSON: I get a lot of time in one sitting. So we would have a good 30-minute discussion and that was it, and once I saw that they could have these types of conversations without much guidance from me, then they were, I knew that I could do something, you know? GONZALEZ:…

Deeper Class Discussions with the TQE Method

…takes about 40 minutes of class time—she teaches on a block schedule, so there’s plenty of time to dig in. When the class is actively studying a novel, they will have these conversations in every class meeting. As for grading, Thompson simply records when students participate, and that’s it. “I have a chart with their little pictures,” she explains, “and I cross them off as I go. So I’m not necessarily grading them every single day. My student Sally might have participated a ton one day, and skipped the next day. But my standard-based grading says she is reading and…

Episode 33: Five Powerful Ways to Save Time as a Teacher

…was lucky enough to get a university job part time for a couple of years and now I run a website. So my schedule’s just a lot more flexible. And anytime anybody asks if I plan to go back to full time teaching, I have to consider that piece. I mean first of all, I would definitely have to stop what I’m doing now completely. But I also think is it even possible to sustain or to maintain that kind of a schedule with three kids. I’ve got an eight year old, a nine year old and an eleven year…

Episode 190 Transcript

…head principal at our high school blocked every bureaucratic task he could block. Any opportunity he found to remove a burden from staff, he took it. We expect things to return to pre-pandemic norms in the fall, but for the past 2 years it has been huge to not have to sweat through the endless data collection and evaluation cycles that drain so much energy and time from educators in normal times.” “The biggest difference our school made for us in 2020-21 was prioritize our time towards planning/prep and office hours. We were given only necessary PD & a lot…

Revolution School: When “Reimagining School” Actually Happens

…work, collaborate with others, travel off-campus for research, and “learn to organize (their) time without shifting focus at predetermined intervals.” Students spend the remaining hours in writing and math labs, reading, doing personal development work in Advisory periods, and participating in Mastery Workshops, where they work to refine their skills in specific areas, such as performance or design, alongside skilled artists and practitioners from the city of Philadelphia. The chart below shows a typical week’s schedule at Revolution, with two large blocks of time set aside for inquiry projects (an interactive version of the chart can be found here). Note…