March 28, 2001
Block schedule square deal
Educators, students applaud class changes
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Traverse City West High School is in the midst of an experiment this year, one that is meeting with resounding success schoolwide.
After years of study and input from teachers, administrators and parents, the school went to a block schedule this fall for all of its classes during three days of the week. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday schedules have students staying in a classroom for 90 minutes. Monday and Friday - dubbed 'speed days' - have standard 56-minutes classes for all classes.
"Block scheduling was a big change for the teachers, but they bought into it," said Joe Tibaldi, principal of West High School. "The initial results are very, very positive in terms of what we are doing."
Teachers find they can work with students more effectively without the constant shuffle of the next class. In all subjects, the longer class times give more time for lessons, questions, student presentations, lab work and research projects.
A recent school-wide survey showed approval ratings for block scheduling ranging in the 80-90 percent range from both teachers and students.
"Longer classes help me learn better and you can do more interesting things," said Danielle Orton, an eleventh-grader at West High School. "I think the days go by faster and you can do better in chemistry because you can do a whole lab in one day."
Art teacher Dan Lisuk is a strong supporter of block scheduling. After watching it in action for six months, he is convinced it is better for students.
"I love it, it just opens up large, uninterrupted blocks of time for working in the studio," he noted. "It is tailor-made for the art department and the students love it."
Some students at East Junior High, where block scheduling has been in place for three years in some eighth-grade math and science classes, cited numerous reasons to support block scheduling. These include more time to complete homework, the ability to cover subjects in depth and less rushing in class and between classes.
"Blocks give you more time to learn and talk about something," said Rachel Ferguson, an eighth- grader at the school. "If you get confused about something, you have time to ask questions about it."
Traverse City St. Francis High School began block scheduling five years ago after a few years of research. School administrators worked closely with staff and parents to ensure that the idea was workable before implementing their four days of blocks and one day of shorter classes. Students still take seven different classes, they just meet with each class three times a week, twice for 80-minutes periods and once for 46 minutes.
Principal Mark Esper noted that everyone at the school has been very happy with the arrangement and that it will continue indefinitely. In fact, he noted that probably everyone's least favorite day was Monday, the day with seven short classes.
"What block scheduling allowed us to do was look at quality issues," Esper said. "When we made the change, we took the time to look at how kids learn, multiple intelligences and learning styles."
"Block scheduling is not just about the organization of time; it gave us an opportunity to really re-evaluate how we do business."
At East Junior High science teacher Lauren Chapple and math teacher Marsha Myles team to teach their students in alternating 100-minute blocks, with students learning science one day and math the next.
They both noted that they had to retool their way of teaching to accommodate the longer time frame.
"You can't lecture for 100 minutes," Chapple said.
They also keep close track of where the other eighth-grade math and science teachers are in the curriculum, to make sure they did not fall behind. However, they find that they kept up or are slightly ahead with no effort because of the longer class time.
"The downside initially was when you do a lesson plan for a class, all of a sudden I was faced with how do I fill two hours instead of one," said Chapple, noting he can include an opening discussion, lecture or student presentations, science experiment, time for questions and homework help all in one class.
"As it turns out, too, we can teach much faster with the blocks. It was a learning curve for both of us and our style of teaching had to change."
Myles initially proposed the idea, remembering her student teacher days in the early 1970s at a school using a block schedule. After getting Chapple onboard, the two approached the other members of their teaching team and school Principal Mike Murray. All were very supportive of their idea when it was first proposed and the team visited schools that have block scheduling.
Each noted that the first year was a challenge as both teachers and students adjusted to the longer class times. In addition, some finessing is required to schedule their courses around the school's standard schedule.
On the whole, however, they give the block scheduling an 'A' and note that other teachers at the school are looking at the idea. In fact, after three years with blocks, neither Myles nor Chapple could imagine going back to a 'normal' schedule.
"With block scheduling, you don't have to go back constantly and revisit ideas, the flow of the class is much easier," Myles said. "I'm much more focused and I don't assign two times as much homework. I really have to be more organized."
"I wouldn't ever want to go back again."