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Friday, August 28, 2009
Schools Settle Into Block Schedule
By Andrea Schoellkopf
Journal Staff Writer
If the first days of class seem a little longer than usual for Albuquerque high school students, it's not just because they miss summer.
This year marks the debut of a new seven-period block schedule at all 13 traditional high schools. Students take four classes a day, for a total of seven different classes over a two-day period.
Six of the seven classes are about 100 minutes long, with the goal of allowing more time for projects and writing assignments. The seventh class is about 50 minutes long and is held daily.
Previously, classes of about 50 minutes were held six times a day, which didn't provide enough time for new classes required to help students testing low in math and reading.
So far, there have been problems accommodating the new schedule, giving teachers collaboration time with peers and even assigning classes at some schools.
"Not everything is perfect with the new schedule," associate APS superintendent Eddie Soto said. "We do run into some bumps and glitches along the way."
He believes the situation has improved, though, now that the district has gotten through the first week of school.
Manzano senior Kassandra Carson doesn't much care for the new schedule.
"It's just tough sitting for that long," Carson said of the longer classes. "Listening and taking notes over everything."
While teachers are giving breaks midway through class to break up the time, she hasn't seen too much deviation from the traditional lecture-type instruction.
A walk down the halls of Manzano found some classes outside for lessons, but others were in traditional lecture settings. A freshman biology teacher was using the time for experiments and demonstrations.
In math, typically a class will check the previous day's homework, review the last subject, get new material, then practice with homework. Math teacher Pat Florence is trying to figure a better model for the longer period: Should he try to teach twice as much in one class or use a different approach?
"Now, there's no such thing as a typical day," he said.
For now, the teachers are trying to adjust to the change and say it's still too new to see a difference in the classroom.
"In the long run, it's going to be good," business teacher Larry Walsh said.
With room for additional electives, popular subjects like culinary arts, business and art doubled in size. Another 18 teachers were hired.
Lonia Jeffers, 16, says she's using the extra time to try to graduate a year early, and she really likes the longer classes.
"It's not, like, so rushed," she said.
She says she'll need to be better organized so she's not waiting until the last minute to do homework, especially if the last class was two days earlier.
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