Block Scheduling
Block scheduling is a scheduling technique which divides the school day into larger "blocks" of time (more than 60 minutes) in order to create a forum for more diverse instructional activities. Generally, the block schedule is comprised of four, ninety- minute blocks or courses. The school year is thus divided into two semesters and courses formerly completed over the course of a year are completed in one semester. This was created to decrease reliance on the standard lecture-discussion-seatwork pattern of teaching and to look at more individualized and creative styles of teaching.
Proponents of block scheduling list the benefits of this technique as: a more flexible and productive classroom environment, having more varied and interactive teaching methods, decreasing class size, offering an increased number of courses, and greater overalll satisfaction for the student and the teacher.
The disadvantages of or the objections to block scheduling are: short attention spans of students in a very long classroom period, a watering down of the course content, too much time between the next course in a sequence, and less time spent in core classes.
To gain a more comprehensive overview of block scheduling, please us the links below.
Remember: The greatest pitfall for any "innovative" educational process is realizing that the "tool(s)" for instructional improvement is simply a tool and not an educational reform in and of itself.
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