chapter 8 powerpoint

Chapter 8Scheduling

Michael Slemp

Peter Renault

Rethinking High School.

Daniels, Bizar, Zemelman

Pages 174-190

Making the right choices

What is the ideal time for instruction to begin?

Is using bell to mark the beginning and the end of the lessons beneficial or harmful?

What is better?

Traditional or

alternative schedule?

Starting Time

Problem with adolescent students• Instruction starts too early

• Students are forced to get up before sunrise

• “adolescent sleeping phenomenon” – students are tired and sleepy for most of the morning

• By lunchtime students start to feel more alert

• After lunch students get tired and sleepy again

Starting Time

Reasons for this tiredness• Adolescents’ hormonal changes as they go through

puberty causes shift in their biological clock

• “phase delay” in sleep time• Students are not tired and ready to fall a sleep at appropriate

evening hours

• Students stay up till late night

• Early start of the classes forces students to get up early

• Students do not get enough sleep and feel tired in the morning

• Overall result – students are not engaged and learn less

Starting Time

Solutions• To better synchronize high school schedule with the

biological alignment of the students’ biological clock.

• No ideal start time set but the overall suggestion is to have a later starting time

• Seems not practical for educators that are used to get up early

• Later start times can be viewed as an opportunity for teachers’ prep time or school and department meetings.

Bell: friend or enemy?

History of bell• Invented around 1911

• Have been used ever since

• Creates structure and organization

• Regulates movement of students and teachers

• In 1920s “school efficiency” movement• Organize school like industrial plants

Bell – friend or enemy?

So what happens towards the end of the lecture when students sense the bell will ring soon?

5 minutes before the end of the lecture:• Teacher talks

• Students’ glances at the clock increases

• Students' attention decreases


3 minutes before the end of the lecture:• Teacher continues with instruction

• Students are quietly closing books

• Students are gathering their materials

• Students are packing their backpacks

• No student will volunteer any comments

• No student will ask questions


1 minute before the end of the lecture• Students are fully packed

• Students pay no attention to the teacher

• All students are watching the second hand on the clock

• Students anticipate the bell

ringing any second


The bell rings• Students bolt from their seats

• Students ignore any final instructions from their teacher

• Even if teacher asks students to stay extra minute, students do not pay attention and likely do not remember what teacher said.


So what would happen if bell would be eliminated?

Positive effects• Teachers would decide within minute or two when their

class would end

• Lecture would end more naturally (when work was done and questions answered)

• Students are more likely to pay attention till the end of the lecture


So what would happen if bell would be eliminated?

Negative effects• Different classes are dismissed at different times

• Dismissed students are loud

• Students dismissed earlier can disrupt other lectures in progress.

• Harder to supervise students dismissed at different times


There is no clear solution to keeping or eliminating the school bell

One thing remains

Time allotted to instruction is precious

and needs to be used effectively

Traditional versus alternative schedule

Traditional schedule• 7 or 8 periods a day

• Each period is about

50 minutes long

• Variety of subjects

and topics

Art2:01-2:51Period 7

PE1:08-1:58Period 6

Lunch 12:02-1:05Period 5

Geometry11:09-11:59Period 4

Social Studies

10:16-11:06Period 3

English9:23 – 10:13Period 2

Physics8:30 – 9:20Period 1


Problems with traditional schedule

• 50 minutes is not enough for significant intellectual engagement


Problems with traditional schedule• Short periods encourages teachers to use

lecture rather than more experimental, interactive teaching methods

versus



• Different school subjects need different amount of instructional time



• A 7-period day contains too many time-wasting transitions



• Students’ and teachers’ motivation decreases with 180 days of mundane routine



• Dividing studies into variety subjects and periods sends a wrong message about the nature of knowledge and learning in the real world.



• Issues with creation of complex schedule with variety classes and several ability levels


Recommendations

(Federal government Prisoners of Time report)

• Longer school year

• Relocation of nonacademic pursuits (driver education, physical education) to after-school programs

• Endorsement of flexible block schedule

• Longer variable chunks of time


Reasons for considering alternative schedule?

It is all about effective use of time!


With better us of schedules

there will be more time for

• Ample teaching time

• Opportunity for faculty and department meetings

• Adequate prep time

• Administrative and busy work

• Individual consultations with students and parents


Sample of block schedule

• Each block is somewhere between 90-100 minutes

• Students alternate between day 1 and day 2

PE1:08-2:51Period 5

Lunch

English10:16-11:59Period 3

Science8:30 – 10:13Period 1

Day 1

Day 2

Spanish1:08-2:51Period 6

Lunch

Math10:16-11:59Period 4

History8:30 – 10:13Period 2


Alternate day modelStudents take six typical classesEach class meets for ninety-minutes every other dayExample• Day 1 –English, math, music and elective A• Day 2 – science, social studies, foreign

language and elective B


4x4 model

Traditional year-long courses are compressed into semester-long versions

Each semester students take only 4 classes

Each class meets for 90 minutes


Copernican model

Derived from summer school programs

School year is divided into three 60-day segments

Each segment is dedicated to few concentrated courses


Trimester model

Two 70-day sessions • Students take 5 classes

30-day spring semester• Intensive study of one or two subject

• Time to make up lost credits


Potential obstacles of alternative schedule• Hard to rework old schedules

• Teachers used to old routines

• Transfers between traditional and alternative schools

• Deciding best instruction for given class (e.g. music requires daily practice all year long)


Potential problems with alternative schedule• How to make up absences in block schedules

(large chunks of material covered)

• What about kids who fail class

• Increase the qualification and development of teachers to insure the effective us of longer time slots

chapter 8 powerpoint

Education