Solution to the Time Crunch

By Ankur Kayastha ’15 – Pro

Block scheduling at Sherwood has the potential to be an advantageous change to the standard seven-period system due to its flexibility both in and outside of school. This change could benefit school staff, parents and especially students.

Many schools have implemented block scheduling already, and the movement is increasing. Counties such as Anne Arundel and Prince George’s have had block scheduling for years. In MCPS, Northwood High and James Hubert Blake High, for example, use block scheduling. At Blake, Monday through Wednesday is the standard seven-period system, but on Thursdays, odd periods meet (with period 6), and on Fridays, even periods meet (also with period 6). This allows for better flexibility with the weekend, so that students receive a few days to gather their work and finalize assignments from all of the classes from the previous week.

Quite simply, high school block scheduling would be analogous to college scheduling, and the ultimate goal of high school is to provide students with college readiness. This similarity can better prepare students to take on college when they reach that point, because they had already developed time management skills from the similar scheduling in high school.

Though there are many variations of block scheduling, in Sherwood specifically, a transition to block scheduling would encompass this same idea contrasting from the traditional seven-period system. Rather than having two days of block scheduling, perhaps four days in a week would be dedicated to four different classes each day rather than seven, which allows for better concentration on both classwork and homework. Then, on Fridays, all classes could meet and review material that was presented throughout the week.

Prioritizing is one of the most prominent problems for high school students, especially for juniors and seniors. Students struggle to get all of their homework done while also attending their extracurricular activities, maintaining a social life, and getting a good night’s sleep. Block scheduling may alleviate these problems by reducing the number of classes that students have each day.

In terms of academics, block scheduling may solve students’ most prominent problem: time management. This type of scheduling calls for fewer, but lengthened classes, so that more material may be taught within classes. Classes usually meet every other day, allowing for more time between classes and the assignments that need to be turned in. Students receive two days to finish and may then be able to budget their time adequately so that they can complete tasks qualitatively. Also, there would be fewer quizzes or tests on a given day by virtue of there only being four classes per day instead of seven. Students can therefore perform better on the tests and quizzes they do have.

Aside from students, teachers also benefit from block scheduling because they have more time to teach in classes. There is actually a mutual advantage: students are able to understand the material better and therefore perform better in the class.

Students benefit; teachers benefit; and parents benefit from this type of block scheduling. Sherwood would impose less stress on its students and ultimately have an enlightened atmosphere with there being fewer classes in the day.

90-Minute Classes Unrealistic

By Ashley Nnabue ’16 – Con

Within MCPS, there are at least three high schools with block schedules, including Blake, nearby. However, even if other schools in MCPS have block scheduling, Sherwood should not consider adopting the scheduling format as well.

Schools with block scheduling typically have seven classes in total, but only four classes are attended a day. During one school day students will go to their odd numbered classes and the following day attend the even numbered classes. Each class is 90 minutes, which is a drastic increase from the standard 47-minute classes that daily seven-period schedules have.

The longer classes are not realistically beneficial for many students, because they are not capable of concentrating on any one subject for a consecutive 90 minutes. The lack of attentiveness from students may cause them to miss information taught in class. After losing attention, some students will be compelled to play around and disrupt the class instruction. Teachers may have to focus more on how to maintain classroom discipline, which will matter more than learning.

A purpose of a block schedule is to make education less regimented and more enjoyable for students. This means that teachers will need to incorporate less lecturing and more varied, entertaining activities in order to keep the students alert. It is likely that some teachers will be unsuccessful in coming up with interesting instruction that fills a longer period. For block scheduling to work, teachers will have to alternate their teaching styles and techniques, which is a task easier said than done.

Since each class is not daily, it will not be surprising if teachers begin to add more homework to the already hefty workload. Many teachers will justify their actions by mentioning the extra night to complete the homework. However, the additional night to do homework will increase students’ tendency to procrastinate. The workloads from various classes can take at least three hours to finish daily. With an extra day to finish it, most students would surely do only half of the work that they could have completed on a normal schedule. This will increase the amount of work one needs to do the next day, and the amount of homework will gradually build up like a snowball.

The longer periods may also dilute how challenging some classes should be. With block scheduling, the rigor of each course is likely slowed down in order to fit the longer time. This may defeat the purpose of a student signing up for an AP or Honors class, which is meant to be fast-paced in order to challenge students’ ability to keep up with the curriculum. Not only that, but dragging out the substance in a class increases students’ chances of forgetting material needed before advancing to the next course or taking a standardized test such as the SAT or ACT. By forgetting the necessary material, performances on standardized tests have a risk of declining.

Extending class times would not work effectively for students or teachers in the long run. If Sherwood adopted this unproductive scheduling system, it would not be surprising if the principal has to endure many phone calls from parents worried about their child’s school studies.