I read in a teacher's blog about long blocks- classes that run an hour and a half rather than 45 minutes. Now I know it seems like such a short time to sqeeze so much info into, but maybe we should be concerned about quality over quantity. She said students have a hard time paying attention for so long. That says they are bored and not learning.
Take a tip from Charlotte Mason. She believed in short, 20 minute lessons. That if a child's brain shuts down in math to switch to science or reading or history or some such and vice versa. Our brains use different parts for different subjects because we learn different things differently. The brain isn't shut down completely. It's just bored stiff in that area. Or confused. Or overwhelmed. Switching and keeping it short will keep the brain stimulated and the kids will remember what they learned.
So you teach a 45 minute class? Or a *long block*? Your students getting bored? Try shifting gears in how you teach stuff- keep the subject the same, just switch the lesson or method halfway through. Just try it ok? "Millions of homeschooling mom's swear by it!"**
**Don't take this quote to the bank, I was just making it (the quote) up. It's a joke, ok? ;) Just a joke.
Check this out: Charlotte Mason's 20 Principles: A Synopsis of her Educational Method.
2 comments:
Principals have a choice here whether they use block or regular scheduling. Block is horrible. If you miss a day, you're really missing two days. Transfer from one high school that has block to one that doesn’t? A pain.
There are very few benefits to a block schedule other than less administrative time spent on moving kids around.
So, do the students benefit? No.
Yeah, block scheduling sounded terrible. I've done it in college when I have taken night classes. We rarely went the entire 2 1/2 hours. We always got breaks, because the instructor and the students needed to smoke. Since it was 3 classes at once, it was bearable only cuz we learned they were pretty good at keeping us stimulated. DCC has many night classes to count for all its nontrad students. DCC, through ITV labs, covers a very very very large network of students in Eastern MT. Instructors here need to know how to keep it interesting. And when to let us go early. Even they've had enough sometimes!
As a highschooler though? Woudn't have had the discipline or patience for it.
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