As a senior at Turner High School, I’ve had my fair share of experiences with our block scheduling system, and it is time to address the challenges it presents for students like me. While there are some positives to this structure, the negatives overwhelmingly affect our education, and it’s important to express and address these concerns.
One of the most important issues with block scheduling is the long length of class periods, 90 minutes can feel like forever when you are expected to maintain focus. Research shows that students today struggle with attention spans, a big factor educators should take into consideration. Asking us to focus and work for such a big chunk of time, mainly when the material is difficult, seems unreasonable. Many of my classmates find we are mentally drained way before the class ends, this causes less engagement, and no one is able to retain the information that they are learning and are sometimes even expected to test on.
The block schedule complicates things more when students miss even a couple of days. With block scheduling, each class is designed to move quickly covering a two-day lesson in one. If a student is absent, catching up becomes discouraging. I’ve seen many of my friends fall behind after missing just two days of one unit. The amount of material we are expected to learn in one class is crazy, and it is not just about missing notes, it is about missing discussions and lectures that can only occur in class. When students return, they are a lot of the time unprepared for tests, which make up 60% of our grade. Even if we get all our work done, with not scoring well on the tests, you will fail the class.
Another reason is students not being able to remember what they have learned. With our block schedule, it is normal to go 3 sometimes 4 days without going back to a class. For instance, after a long weekend followed by a Monday off, it can be a full weekend plus two days before we review topics in that time, what we learned isn’t very clear in our brains. which canlead to gaps in learning, and this happens multiple times a semester.
Teachers also feel stressed with the compacted learning. With fewer days to work with each class, lessons can feel rushed, forcing teachers to prioritize coverage over students understanding the material. This leaves many students feeling lost and anxious about their lack of understanding on topics. This sped up pace can lead to a bare understanding of subjects that need a better explanation.
More so, the block structure has consequences for seniors, many of them in classes where they often finish work early. Instead of being able to move onto the next class, we spend the rest of our time doing nothing either on our phones or talking, this is going to make it hard for us to transition into college where we will be learning a lot of new material we will be used to minimal work. It is useless to see classmates not engaged because clock schedule does not encourage learning.
In conclusion, while block scheduling may have been put in place with good intentions, the reality is that it presents too many challenges that discourage successful learning. The long class periods, difficulty in catching up after being absent, as well as inability to remember and attain information. All of these contribute to a learning environment that does not feel very supportive and more way stressful. As we aim for a good education that prepares us for work and college, it is important that we take another look at how our schedule is affecting our students and find the solution. It is time for us to fight for changes that promote engagement, understanding, and ultimately, success in our education.
