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What was your overall take-away from the article?

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What was your overall take-away from the article?

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Based on the reading and knowledge of your department, what obstacles will your department face in transitioning to a block schedule? 

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Based on the reading and knowledge of your department, what obstacles will your department face in transitioning to a block schedule? 

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Respond to the following quote: "This mindset, the belief that lecture is the only "real" way to teach, causes all, kinds of trouble in block scheduling."

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Respond to the following quote: "This mindset, the belief that lecture is the only "real" way to teach, causes all, kinds of trouble in block scheduling."

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-cultofpedagogy

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What changes need to take place within PLCs to facilitate the transition to block scheduling? How will the roles of subject-leads/grade-levels need to change to address the expectations of block scheduling? 

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What changes need to take place within PLCs to facilitate the transition to block scheduling? How will the roles of subject-leads/grade-levels need to change to address the expectations of block scheduling? 

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i found the article helpful to help me plan next year.

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Stacy Jackson developing teaching stratagies that will engage students for 90 minutes and also eveloping effective transitions

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Stacy Jackson developing teaching stratagies that will engage students for 90 minutes and also eveloping effective transitions

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lecture does not engage students it allows them to be passive i n their learning

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i believe there will be a learning curve as we experience block schedule especially those who have never taught before. I believe the leads will need to have resources in place to share- examples of strategies and transitions, videos of classes in their subject area that are successful in keeping students engaged during the 90 minutes.

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PLC's will need to take into account new pacing for the block schedule. I also feel that planning should treat the block like four quarters of a football game:  for example, plan in 15 minute sections while making sure to plan for the transitions between sections.  Members of the PLC must be willing to go outside of their comfort zone and try new things.  The PLC leader must be willing to assign tasks within the PLC so that teachers do not have to come up with new teaching strategies on their own for the entire group

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PLC's will need to take into account new pacing for the block schedule. I also feel that planning should treat the block like four quarters of a football game:  for example, plan in 15 minute sections while making sure to plan for the transitions between sections.  Members of the PLC must be willing to go outside of their comfort zone and try new things.  The PLC leader must be willing to assign tasks within the PLC so that teachers do not have to come up with new teaching strategies on their own for the entire group

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There is merit to lecture in small bits and pieces. Students can only focus for about 15 minutes. To lecture for 90 minutes means a teacher lost their students 75 minutes before! When including lecture in block scheduling, the planning should address the lecture in small parts with practice and investigation built in between lecturing.

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Obstacles for the Science department will be a willingness to try new things. Some are set in their ways and have had success with what they have done in the past. However, the majority of techniques will not work with a block schedule. Coming up with new and innovative teaching methods will be a challenge as well.

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Don't get in stuck in the way you've always done it, yet don't abandon the things that work for you. You may have to use multiple methods that you've always been comfortable with, you just have to employ them in one day.

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Don't get in stuck in the way you've always done it, yet don't abandon the things that work for you. You may have to use multiple methods that you've always been comfortable with, you just have to employ them in one day.

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Pacing is a real issue for science. I just attempted to convert our pacing guide from traditional to block this week. I realized that there really is not "extra" time to cover content. We are now taking two instructional days and converting them into one. Therefore science teachers must trim activities that we do just because we like them and focus on those that address the standards alone.

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Pacing is a real issue for science. I just attempted to convert our pacing guide from traditional to block this week. I realized that there really is not "extra" time to cover content. We are now taking two instructional days and converting them into one. Therefore science teachers must trim activities that we do just because we like them and focus on those that address the standards alone.

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Bad lecture is bad! There are people who are very gifted in lecture and students are engaged and excited by what they experience. However, not every teacher can pull off lecture. The key is knowing yourself and knowing when enough is enough. No one in the classroom today believes that lecture should be the sole means of teaching. To be professional means to have the drive to constantly improve your teaching, be that adding new methods or improving on the tried and true. Let's face it students are going to walk into college classrooms and job specific training rooms where lecture will be the primary means of instruction. We should work hard to show them what good lecture looks like and how to get the most out of it when we can. 

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Bad lecture is bad! There are people who are very gifted in lecture and students are engaged and excited by what they experience. However, not every teacher can pull off lecture. The key is knowing yourself and knowing when enough is enough. No one in the classroom today believes that lecture should be the sole means of teaching. To be professional means to have the drive to constantly improve your teaching, be that adding new methods or improving on the tried and true. Let's face it students are going to walk into college classrooms and job specific training rooms where lecture will be the primary means of instruction. We should work hard to show them what good lecture looks like and how to get the most out of it when we can. 

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The biggest hurdled will be to get PLCs to plan well beyond the current unit. In order to prevent time "slipping up on us." we will have to be two or three steps ahead of the game. Constantly reminding each other of where we are, where we should be, and what is next in the pacing. The  content leads must keep the PLC on track and take active role insuring all content teacher are keeping pace. The leads must also be able to assist those who are struggling to keep pace 

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The biggest hurdled will be to get PLCs to plan well beyond the current unit. In order to prevent time "slipping up on us." we will have to be two or three steps ahead of the game. Constantly reminding each other of where we are, where we should be, and what is next in the pacing. The  content leads must keep the PLC on track and take active role insuring all content teacher are keeping pace. The leads must also be able to assist those who are struggling to keep pace 

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W. Schaufler - Having taught on block and traditional schedule the article highlighted common issues and concerns as well strategies that help make the block successful. 

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W. Schaufler - Having taught on block and traditional schedule the article highlighted common issues and concerns as well strategies that help make the block successful. 

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Social Studies is facing incorporating the USH standards into projects to challenge the students to demonstrate content mastery, and staying on pace.

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Many effective teachers use lecture/discussion - not just lecture. Lecture/discussion is very direct way of teaching, and checking for understanding. That being said, 90 minutes of discussion and CFU would wear both teacher and students out.

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W. Schaufler - While there are more and more articles coming out about the bad side of technology, RESEARCH is one area where it is a HUGE help. Teachers today have more resources at their fingertips than ever before. Not being able to prepare / plan for a 90 minute period is simply not an option - there just simply is no excuse. Teaching a 45, 50 or 90 minute class relies on the teacher having thorough content knowledge, great classroom management and a solid plan to go by. PLC's can split their time - spend one meeting focused on current pacing / content, and the next meeting on planning for the block. Due to the wide variety in number of teachers per course and requirements of those courses each course should be able to divide and conquer as fits them best.  

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W. Schaufler - While there are more and more articles coming out about the bad side of technology, RESEARCH is one area where it is a HUGE help. Teachers today have more resources at their fingertips than ever before. Not being able to prepare / plan for a 90 minute period is simply not an option - there just simply is no excuse. Teaching a 45, 50 or 90 minute class relies on the teacher having thorough content knowledge, great classroom management and a solid plan to go by. PLC's can split their time - spend one meeting focused on current pacing / content, and the next meeting on planning for the block. Due to the wide variety in number of teachers per course and requirements of those courses each course should be able to divide and conquer as fits them best.  

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My biggest take away was to use the time in the block effectively.  Don't waste time by lecturing the full 90 minutes, because the students won't master the content.  We also can't have them just do lecture then homework, because we won't be able to get through all the content.  We must be creative in our teaching and be flexible to try new things.

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Pacing is always an obstacle for math and I think it will be even more of an obstacle going to block.  We cannot stick our normal teach then practice routine.  We also need to make sure we are checking for mastery daily and be willing to plan with each other.

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sometimes it seems that lecture is the fastest way to get our material to our students, but by only lecturing we will lose the attention of our students and not be able to check for understanding.

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It will be even more important for subject to have a solid plan when going into a 90 minute block. We will need to rely on other teachers in our PLCs to plan and bounce ideas off of. PLC leads will need to delegate tasks so that not one person is doing all of the planning and work.

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Be effective with your time. Mix it up a bit.  Over plan with student learning in mind. 

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Be effective with your time. Mix it up a bit.  Over plan with student learning in mind. 

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Making sure that they don't use the block for a 2 hr. reading period.

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Some lecturing is sometimes needed---all lecturing is not.  This is a great opportunity to really do the full steps of an EDI

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Some lecturing is sometimes needed---all lecturing is not.  This is a great opportunity to really do the full steps of an EDI

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Good ideas to over plan and keep the students moving

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Teachers need to make sure to use their time wisely--this is not a chance to read for 2 hrs

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The article addressed many of my concerns for next year while also providing great suggestions for maintaining engagement while covering required standards. The biggest take-away from the article is that teachers will need to PLAN in order to be successful. In addition, many teachers, myself included, will have to try new things in the classroom in order to break away from the lecture mindset.

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I anticipate some teachers struggling with classroom management. In providing professional development on various pedagogical strategies (30-30-30, PBL, Stations, etc.), we should also provide teachers with examples of procedures that should be taught prior to the lessons. There are many great strategies out there, but students need explicit instruction on the procedures in order to prevent chaos.

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While lecture is a necessary step in relaying new information, it is not an effective way to ensure learning is occuring. Students need time to synthesize information and apply it in order to truly grasp it. Having observed numerous classes that were taught through lecture, I personally see how difficult it can be to stay focused.

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Every PLC meeting needs to have an agenda so teachers stay on task. As a previous poster stated, block scheduling requires that teachers stay ahead of the game and overplan to prevent confusion or loss of instructional time. That being said, PLC meetings should start early and focus on the end game. If teachers keep the objective in mind, it will help them to then come up with creative ways of ensuring the content is learned.

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Paying attention to timing of activities will be important, especially with students' attention span in mind. 

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Paying attention to timing of activities will be important, especially with students' attention span in mind. 

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The temptation to get caught up in reading great works in English is a difficult one to overcome. Planning and pacing will be essential and will be especially important discussions in PLC's.

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Lecture has its place and purpose, but block scheduling will give us opportunities to stretch our creativity and engage students in a myriad of ways.

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That teaching on a block schedule is not impossible, and will actually give teachers time to promote alternative means of teaching and learning.

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In any history department, you have a large amount of those "experts" who love to hear themselves wax historical. I think that lecture is easy to many of my teachers who can do so without any kind of planning or forethought at this point in their careers. I also fear that some of my coaches will embrace that "homework" model, which would give them time to focus on planning for their sport.

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Quite simply, it would be EXHAUSTING. No human being can lecture well for 90 minutes. Also, everyone knows that students have shorter attention spans, and that 90 minutes of them doing any one things that is not active and centered on something that they have a keen interest in is not happening.

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I think that there needs to be heavy focus on lesson planning and pacing. I also think that teachers must be equipped with an arsenal of activities and ideas to help them fill the block, so PLCs can either be used to collaborate on those activity templates, or be used to learn about different ideas from an outside and proven-effective source.
I also believe that this would be a great time to revamp our lesson plan procedures away from EDI and toward a more block friendly format. We have so many teachers either new to the district or new to block, that I think going back to a basic lesson format that includes time frames for different parts of a lesson and descriptions of teacher and student actions in each (which would also align with the new ELIOT) would make the transition easier. If that happened, many of the PLCs and a lot of subject-leader responsibility could be focused in creating these new block friendly units.

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There were some really great ideas on teaching strategies and an overall the article gave positive light to transitioning to a block schedule.

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Science is always going to give feedback on the argument that there will not be enough time to cover the amount of material that we are required to cover with the current pacing.

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I can only really say that the statement is well, nonsense.  I am a product of mainly lecture type of instruction and although I was successful that does not mean that it is "the only way" for TH generation of student.  There is absolutely a place and requirement for lectured instruction but why restrict yourself?  Why not open up opportunities for collaborative learning and building relationships with our students while helping them learn how to learn.

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My take away is that the essential component for an effective transition into teaching on a block schedule is planning.  Knowing how to plan for this type of schedule is definitely the key!

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As stated previously, PLC's will need to become truly well oiled machines.  There will need to be true collaboration and strong diplomatic leadership.  This means all will need to contribute to the whole and the help all those who require it.

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I think teachers will struggle with how to fill the 90 minute time slot. Teachers may struggle with having a variety of things to keep students actively engaged in learning.

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I know some teachers will have a hard time letting go of the desire to lecture.  A lecture would be appropriate during direct instruction . For example teachers may sometimes give mini lessons to possibly introduce new content.  However, this has to be done in an interactive way (video clip, demonstration, etc.).  Also, this should only take about 15 minutes of the 90 minutes provided as class time.

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PLC leaders will have to use PLC time to support teachers on the team by sharing teaching methods/strategies that could be utilized during block classes. The PLC time is going to become very important, because teachers will need to feel supported during the transition into block scheduling.

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My two cents are advance planning is needed now and teachers need their individual teaching assignments early this year to allow consistent and meaningful planning to occur. Our PLCs are a great place to work on this now.

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My two cents are advance planning is needed now and teachers need their individual teaching assignments early this year to allow consistent and meaningful planning to occur. Our PLCs are a great place to work on this now.

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I think 90 minutes will challenge some, but not near all teachers. The issues I see are distractions such as drills/testing/activities can and will have a much bigger impact next year. Admin will need to minimize lost instructional time like never before.

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I think 90 minutes will challenge some, but not near all teachers. The issues I see are distractions such as drills/testing/activities can and will have a much bigger impact next year. Admin will need to minimize lost instructional time like never before.

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Social Science is about history and most of it must be delivered in some respect by lecture. I agree with Bill that a really good teacher will lecture but use Socratic questioning to "bridge the lecture" to their individual applications.

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Social Science is about history and most of it must be delivered in some respect by lecture. I agree with Bill that a really good teacher will lecture but use Socratic questioning to "bridge the lecture" to their individual applications.

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All of the previous comments are applicable! However PLCs must have people WHO CAN WORK TOGETHER. The days of not having "buy in" from all must end. I have numerous PLCs that work really well and a couple that just meet. The "just meets" will have to step up as we transition to the block. Having not only the right people in each PLC but the strongest leader of each PLC will be paramount to success.

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All of the previous comments are applicable! However PLCs must have people WHO CAN WORK TOGETHER. The days of not having "buy in" from all must end. I have numerous PLCs that work really well and a couple that just meet. The "just meets" will have to step up as we transition to the block. Having not only the right people in each PLC but the strongest leader of each PLC will be paramount to success.

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There are many options to planning an engaging lesson during a block period that can fit the lesson you are presenting or even a teacher's comfort level.

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Trying to effectively manage their time and lesson pacing. I think many teachers are thinking they will have to get in two lessons in one day instead of how can I effectively teach an idea or standard. One teacher who has taught block has mentioned that what we traditionally think of a as a teaching a concept that takes 2 to 3 days can effectively be done in one block day because there is no transitioning from day to day and saying do you remember where we left off yesterday.

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I believe teachers who only feel lecture will get the content through have probably not tried other methods and may not be as comfortable with students "learning on their own". Many teachers have been taught through the lecture method.
"Lecture" or "teacher instruction" is valuable but it will definitely need to be in smaller doses for a 90 minute period.

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For my teachers, I believe the hardest part will be realizing each teacher's classroom will not be the same. My PLCs are feel the need to be doing the exact same lesson the same way the same day and giving the same assessments on the same day and way. Definitely with A/B scheduling that won't work as well as if students are grasping a concept there should be no reason to move on or give a quick quiz that day. My teachers will need to realize they can have a little more "autonomy" in there instruction and assessment methods.

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PLC's will need to completely revitalize the curriculum and pacing guides in Rubicon. That should also include more resources and sample lessons that teachers can utilize in the classroom. It will take time and training for teachers to feel comfortable with the transition periods that will need to occur in each block period.

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Block scheduling can be very beneficial to students and teachers but training and understanding of strategies will be necessary for teachers to best implement this scheduling piece. This article does give a number of strategies that could easily be manipulated for any classroom.