Re: Block Scheduling

[Mary Ellen Scribner <scribner@TENET.EDU>]

There have been several requests lately for information and experiences
with block scheduling.  Just a couple of years ago, I was also asking
questions  about it as my school prepared to change to an alternate-day
block schedule.  It wasn't easy to convince everyone of the benefits, and
it certainly wasn't easy to accommodate three lunch periods!

It has had several benefits for our library media program.  Teachers can
opt to bring a class to the library for the entire block (90 minutes) or
half a block.  More classes are able to use the library because of this
flexibility.  The 90 minutes are especially good for building instruction
of library skills into the research process--which leads to more
collaboration between the librarian and the teacher.  Teachers can be more
innovative in planning their assignments.  Students can work in small
groups or teams with each unit using different resource materials.
This can be very important when there is limited Internet access, only
twelve stations for catalog access, etc.

All that said, I am getting to the real purpose of this posting!  The
main article in the Feb. 26 edition of "What Works in Teaching and
Learning" (formerly "Report on Education Research") is about block
scheduling, and it is very good.  Several forms of block scheduling are
discussed, and both positive and negative outcomes are documented with
references to specific schools.  Creative solutions to some problems are
also described, and there is a full page of web sites to visit for even
more information.

Mary Ellen Scribner, Librarian                  512 464-4033
Westwood High School, Round Rock ISD            512 464-4020 (FAX)
12400 Mellow Meadow Dr.                         scribner@tenet.edu
Austin, TX 78750-1824