The 90 minute block schedule or the 50 minute period

[pething101]

Which do you prefer and why?

I teach the 90 minute block schedule and I hate it! Hate! 90 minutes is just too long to have one class of kids. If you add it all up, 90 days of 90 minutes a block totals out to be a good bit less than 180 days of 50 minute classes yet more and more schools are moving to the 90 minute block and I have no clue why.

[Iceblink]

Which do you prefer and why?

I teach the 90 minute block schedule and I hate it! Hate! 90 minutes is just too long to have one class of kids. If you add it all up, 90 days of 90 minutes a block totals out to be a good bit less than 180 days of 50 minute classes yet more and more schools are moving to the 90 minute block and I have no clue why.

I'd rather have something in between what I have now and a 90 minute block. I think it would be awful to have my students for that long... but I'm dealing with 46 minute periods... only 30 minutes of which are actually useful.

60 minutes would be ideal for me.

The best scheduling that I've seen was a middle school that really did do things in teams. If one teacher had something that needed a full block or more, he/she could have longer. They worked it out. At my school, we just pretend to work as a team.

We were all supposed to have common planning time for meetings, etc., but there are really only three of us that consistently have the necessary periods together.

[96Squig]

we have blocks of 45 minutes, with 5 minute breaks, and a different scedule for every day of the week. Usually the main subjects (German, foreign languages, Math) get 5 lessons a week, sciences, politics, religion and geology get 3, sports get 2, the only two's which are direct after each other 'till 10th grade.
from 11th grade on you have it that you'll have at least one double lesson for each subject, in grade 12 you choose two subjects to have for 5 lessons/week, the rest (except sports) for 3. You don't pick classes but just have the same classes all the time, IE I had english from 7th grade on, german from 1st, etc.
When I was in the US my teachers hated the 90 minute block, but the 45 min is too less I think, the system where you have 90 min split up here works fine though imo. for the american system 60 minutes should be good...

[Val1]

I've never taught in a block schedule school, though my is right now.

I was on the design team to bring block scheduling to our school, so I am definitely for it. But I will agree with you, if you've got a bad group of kids, 90 minutes is a long time til you can usher them out the door. It is also hard on subs to keep the lid on such a group for so long.

Block scheduling does require that you be able to change gears several times during each class period, but it is worth it for what you can accomplish in gym or shop or home ec or lab sciences.

Oh, and I've never had 50 minute classes, best I ever had was 46 minute classes, and the time savings we got from 3 less class changes is what got us to 90 minute classes.

[elainemichelle]

For my classes, we need block periods. You can't finish labs in 50 minutes. You can barely start them. I think good teachers can fill 90 minutes.

[realmadrid1086]

I'm not a big fan of block scheduling. Depending on what kind of teacher and class you have, you either learn a lot and enjoy yourself for an hour and a half or you suffer through 90 minutes of sheer monotony. My AP Literature class is always very productive and we usually have a lot of fun in there. My AP Economics class, on the other hand, is so dry and dull that I find my self watching the second hand on the clock tick while my teacher rambles on about selling her in-bred dogs and destroys basic economic principle. With block scheduling it is also possible that a student may not have a certain type of class (e.g. math) for a year. Most students aren't motivated enough to keep their knowledge of the subject intact during the period they don't have the class, so block scheduling is not beneficial in that aspect. Also, if a student is seriously ill and does not attend school for several days, they will miss so much work and tests/quizzes that they will have to spend about a week making it all up. My sophomore year in high school, I was out of school for four days with an upper respiratory infection. I spent probably a week straight making up tests and quizzes after school. Because I had to make up tests basically every day after school, I missed a portion of soccer practice every day and lost my starting spot (during that time).

50 minute classes are far too short. 90 minute classes are probably a bit too long for the majority of students (and maybe some teachers). I think a medium of 60-70 minutes would be good for both teachers and students.

[pething101]

For my classes, we need block periods. You can't finish labs in 50 minutes. You can barely start them. I think good teachers can fill 90 minutes.

Bad teachers can fill 90 minutes just as easily as the good ones.

The thing I do is just do everything in 15 to 18 minute segments. Never do one thing for more than 20 minutes or the kids will zone out on ya. If I talk for more than 45 minutes out of that 90, then I am talking way too much.

Also, I try to let the students do 15 minutes in groups each day. Give them a chance to talk to each other so they are not so rowdy when I am talking.

Still, I would rather not have 90 minute classes. 55 minutes would be enough for me.