Extractions: One student is designated to take notes so his friends can cut class that day. The next week, it's another student's turn to share her notes; and so it goes. A fairly common practice on campuses nationwide. But not at the University of Montana-Western where faculty members realized there had to be a better way to structure classes if large numbers of students were routinely skipping class and copying notes instead. So this year, some courses at the university, located in Dillon, are organized a different wayand early reports indicate that students and faculty alike think it's a better way. A group of 75 students (about one-third of the freshman class) are part of a pilot project called Experiment One, or X1. Modeled after a system in place for more than 25 years at Colorado College, students in X1 take only one course at a time, rather than the usual three to five. The X1 classes meet three hours a day for three and a half weeks. Each course ends on a Wednesday; the next one begins the following Monday. "What drove this was an interest in being able to change how we teach classes," says project director Steve Mock, dean of the College of Arts and Science and a member of the AFT-affiliated Western Montana College Faculty. Specifically, he continues, that means more "experiential, hands-on learning by doing."
ProTeacher BusyBoard Community Do any of you have a modified block schedule with science social studies I teach each class every other day, and our periods are an hour and a half. http://www.proteacher.net/dcforum/schools_private/333.html
Extractions: Archive Directory Home Jump to a different board! Busy Board Primary K-3 Intermediate VENT Subject Boards Substitute Teachers Student Teachers Special Education Many More Boards... "block schedule" Report inappropriate posting on this thread Select One Advertisement Rude/Mean Off Topic Cross-Posting Not a Teacher Printer Friendly Format Original Message "block schedule"
Education Book Review/Teaching Mathematics In The Block Eye on Education publishes a number of books on block scheduling. Teaching Mathematics in the block is one of the first to focus on a single subject. http://www.lib.msu.edu/corby/reviews/posted/gilkey.htm
Extractions: Eye on Education publishes a number of books on block scheduling. Teaching Mathematics in the Block is one of the first to focus on a single subject. Choosing one of the "boring" subjects that students find hard to love, even in 50 minute intervals, is a good test of the block scheduling concept. The results are mixed. Pages: Price: ISBN: 1-883001-51-x Michigan State University Libraries
Intel Education: It's A Wild Ride: Block Scheduling Any faculty that is considering implementing block scheduling should seriously of the past to the uncharted waters of teaching in a block schedule, http://www.intel.com/education/projects/wildride/supporting/BlkSched.htm
Extractions: Part of O'Leary's school improvement strategy involved researching the potential of block scheduling. Principal Wiley Dobbs initiated the research and convened a review committee. He was asked to put his research into a report for the superintendent to review. The proposal was subsequently approved and initiated in 1998. The Block Schedule F oreign L anguage Ex ploratory for French, Spanish and German languages), our "Gateways" class (a series of six classes on processing and materials, audio-video technology, career exploration, digital graphics and more) and our "Exploring the Fine Arts" class ( a series of classes that allow students to try drama, creative writing, dance, art and more). Evidence from various performance sources indicates that we have a much better school now than we did six years ago. Our ITBS scores have soared. For example, our 8 th grade core score has gone from the 44 th percentile in 1994 to the 75 th While our school is seeing a rise in student achievement and an improvement in student performance, our staff is committed to providing the most effective learning conditions and instructional practices. One such practice we are evaluating for implementation is block scheduling. Many of our staff members have expressed an interest in block scheduling. While our staff is aware that block scheduling in and of itself is not a panacea, it may be the next logical step in our school improvement efforts. The quote above captures the thinking of many of our teachers in that we are searching for ways to better utilize the time we have with our students.
ALA | SLMR - The Best Of ERIC Reading Camouflaged in a Computer Program? Developing a Collaborative Culture block scheduling The Teaching Role About This Special Feature http://www.ala.org/ala/aasl/aaslpubsandjournals/slmrb/editorschoiceb/bestoferic/
Extractions: ALA American Library Association Search ALA Contact ALA ... Editor's Choice Resources Best of ERIC The Best of ERIC Accelerated Reading: Silent Sustained Reading Camouflaged in a Computer Program? Developing a Collaborative Culture Block Scheduling The Teaching Role ... About This Special Feature drruth@twcny.rr.com and tell me about it, briefly describing your methodology, where and with whom the study will be conducted, what you hope to learn from your study, and some preliminary results (if you have them). Best of ERIC will highlight, from time to time, researchers and practitioners in the field who are doing interesting research related (but not limited) to the types of topics covered in this column in the hope that it will help to stimulate an interest among preservice and in-service practitioners and others in conducting research in our field. http://www.renlearn.com/ar/overview/ ). Recently, Renaissance Learning Inc., (once known as Advantage Learning Systems, 1993) announced plans to merge with AlphaSmart Inc., a maker of portable word processors for students (eSchool News, 2005). The main elements of AR are designed to: empower the classroom teacher to motivate and manage extensive amounts of in-class reading practice time, to monitor student performance, and to intervene with individualized strategies for students. An hour of reading practice daily, in grade appropriate combinations of Read To, Read With, and Independent reading activities (Goodman 1999, 11).
Modular Or Block Schedule - Teaching Tips Under The Block Schedule The modular or block schedule is a method of restructuring schools to give a student more time in each class during a day. Find teaching tips to help http://712educators.about.com/library/weekly/aa020700.htm
Extractions: zJs=10 zJs=11 zJs=12 zJs=13 zc(5,'jsc',zJs,9999999,'') About Education Secondary School Educators Education ... Help zau(256,140,140,'el','http://z.about.com/0/ip/417/C.htm','');w(xb+xb+' ');zau(256,140,140,'von','http://z.about.com/0/ip/496/7.htm','');w(xb+xb); Sign Up Now for the Secondary School Educators newsletter! As explained in Part I , there are different types of modular schedules. One of them is the Modified Block where a school continues to teach 6 periods a day, but increases the time of the classes. The other type of Block is the 4X4 where only 4 courses are taken at any one time, and they each last approximately 80 minutes. Even though these systems are very different, many of the modifications are the same. Unless otherwise noted, these strategies can be used for each. Strategies for Teaching Under the Block Schedule Multiple Activities in any class period are a necessity. Research shows that the attention span of even an adult is not much more than 30 minutes. Therefore, lecturing for 80 minutes will not only kill your voice, but also result in less learning. Look at my
Modular Or Block Schedule - Pros And Cons The modular or block schedule is a method of restructuring schools to give a Part II will focus on useful tips for teaching under a modular schedule. http://712educators.about.com/cs/blockschedule/a/blockschedule.htm
Extractions: var zLb=12; var zIoa1 = new Array('Suggested Reading','Block Schedule','http://7-12educators.about.com/cs/blockschedule/index.htm','Restructuring Schools','http://7-12educators.about.com/cs/restructuring/index.htm','Who Wants to Be an Education Expert?','http://7-12educators.about.com/blwhowants.htm'); var zIoa2 = new Array('Elsewhere on the Web','Case for the Block Schedule','http://www.ericfacility.net/ericdigests/ed393156.html','Case Against the Block Schedule','http://www.jefflindsay.com/Block.shtml#intro'); zJs=10 zJs=11 zJs=12 zJs=13 zc(5,'jsc',zJs,9999999,'') About Education Secondary School Educators Educational Reform ... Block Schedule Modular or Block Schedule - Pros and Cons Education Secondary Educators Essentials Teacher Personality Quiz ... Help zau(256,140,140,'el','http://z.about.com/0/ip/417/C.htm','');w(xb+xb+' ');zau(256,140,140,'von','http://z.about.com/0/ip/496/7.htm','');w(xb+xb); Sign Up Now for the Secondary School Educators newsletter!
Research What Types of block Schedules Benefit Middle School Students? (2000) Teaching blockscheduled class periods. The Education Digest, 62(1), 35-37. http://www.nmsa.org/research/ressum17.htm
Extractions: What Types of Block Schedules Benefit Middle School Students? Block Scheduling Defined The alternate day block schedule may be adapted to meet the needs of schools that offer six or eight courses. In such schools, half of the classes meet in double instructional blocks (i.e. 90 minutes) one day, while the remaining classes meet in double blocks the next day. Many schools have students meet in all six or eight classes one day each week for shorter periods of time (Edwards, 1995). The use of block scheduling and interdisciplinary team organization are both popular ways to restructure middle level schools. However, to be an interdisciplinary team, the team teachers do not have to be scheduled to teach at the same time. Flexible block scheduling requires that the teachers involved are, in fact, teaching at the same time. Ideally, all interdisciplinary teams are scheduled on a flexible block basis (Merenbloom, 1986). It is also important to differentiate between the block scheduling model as it is commonly recommended and used in high schools, and block scheduling as commonly recommended and used in middle schools. The high school block scheduling model typically schedules a four-period day, in which students take two core and two elective courses in one semester to earn a year's credit. Typically the high school instructional blocks are approximately 90 minutes. The focus in the middle school is entirely different.
Math Goodies Forums - Block Schedule OR 45 Minute Periods However, 2 years into teaching there, they went with a block schedule (90 minutes every other day). All of a sudden I had to do in only 45 minutes what used http://www.mathgoodies.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=20785
Kappa Delta Pi Record: Moving To The Block Schedule Full text of the article, Moving to the block schedule from Kappa Delta The longer time blocks would also better accommodate teaching strategies such http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4009/is_200104/ai_n8948878
Extractions: Save a personal copy of this article and quickly find it again with Furl.net. It's free! Save it. Programs in Practice Each group of students was huddled together, debating which strategy would win. They all were actively engaged in the balloon rocket competition, and-even more amazing-it was the afternoon before spring break. One student, who had been hard to motivate with more traditional methods, became a leader in lab settings like this one. He watched intensely as the other teams released their rockets, and he adjusted his release accordingly, only to lose by inches to a much simpler design. For the entire period, the students explored design and tried out their best ideas. The balloon rocket competition is just one example of an activity that worked incredibly well on an extended-period block schedule. In the Beginning Our large suburban high school moved into a new building this school year, but what concerned most teachers was not the physical move but the radically different schedule that was implemented. This change was the culmination of more than three years of study and consideration-the span most experts (Hackmann 1995) recommend to evaluate the situation before jumping into a new schedule. Actually, this story started two years earlier, when our board of education implemented an optional seven-period day the next year, with all teachers teaching six out of seven periods. To accommodate this schedule, class periods were shortened to just 50 minutes.
JCE 2001 (78) 488 [Apr] Teaching Chemistry In The Block Schedule Teaching Chemistry in the block Schedule. Sally Craven With the block schedule it is possible to accomplish prelab questioning, the activity, http://jchemed.chem.wisc.edu/Journal/Issues/2001/Apr/abs488.html
Extractions: COLUMNS Promoting Learning by Marv Marshall 4 Blocks by Cheryl Sigmon Ask the School Psychologist by Beth Bruno Online Classrooms by Leslie Bowman ... The Visually Impaired Child by Dave Melanson ARTICLES Seussational Reading Excitement - NEA's Read Across America: Too Much Reading Fun for Just One Day!... The 100th Day of School 100th Day Activities TelevisionDon't Trash ItControl It ... Tips for Substitute Teachers TEACHER INSPIRATION FEATURE From "I Don't Care" to "I Did It!" ON-SITE INSIGHTS Rules for Secondary Classrooms Block Scheduling REGULAR FEATURES Special Days This Month The Lighter Side of Teaching
Eye On Education Teaching Foreign Languages In The Block Teaching Foreign Languages in the block. Quantity in Basket none Meeting National Standards Foreign Languages and the block Schedule http://www.eyeoneducation.com/cgi-bin/miva?Merchant2/merchant.mv Screen=PROD&Sto
Internship And Residency Program - Veterinary Small Animal They provide patient care and teaching assistance in the Veterinary Medical Any and all changes in the block schedule must be approved in advance by the http://www.cvm.tamu.edu/tmpArchivePages/Internship.htm
NCL NEST Newsletter T he block schedule provides an alternative to short class periods. Many forms of block schedule exist, but the most common among NCL NEST teachers are the http://www.unc.edu/depts/cmse/NCLNEST/Newsletter.html
Extractions: Making Changes S chools must restructure schedules so that teachers can use blocks of time, interdisciplinary strategies, and field experiences to give students many opportunities to engage in serious scientific investigation as an integral part of their science learning." T he comment above, taken from the National Science Education Standards (p.44, NRC, 1996) may refer to the many innovative changes occurring in North Carolina classrooms recently. NCL NEST teachers are immersed in the changes as their schools consider shifting to block schedules. Most schools in the United States use standard 45 to 55 minute class periods to correspond with Carnegie Units of Credit developed early in the century. These short time periods can be problematic for science teachers. T he block schedule provides an alternative to short class periods. Many forms of block schedule exist, but the most common among NCL NEST teachers are the 4x4 and alternative day plans. The 4x4 plan includes four 90-minute class periods each day. Teachers plan during one 90-minute period and teach during three 90-minute periods. Classes meet every day and last for one semester, so students can take 8 classes each year instead of the traditional 6 or 7. The alternative day plan is similar, but each class only meets on alternate days. Classes last an entire year.
