Starting next year, Shaker is going to be making a big change. It is going to be switching from a seven-period day to a four-block schedule. What that means is that instead of having seven periods everyday that are 47 minutes long, we will have four blocks that are around 84 minutes long. The four blocks will be alternating so that you’ll have the same four blocks every other day. For example, if you have an English class on Monday, the next time you’ll have English class is on Wednesday. This is quite different from how Shaker’s current schedule is, so we wanted to ask the Bison Nation what they thought of it. 

When asked what the feelings are on a scale of one to five about moving to block scheduling next year, one being “Not Excited” and five being “Can’t Wait,” 50.3% people voted one, 14.5% people voted two, 13.3% people voted three, 5.9% people voted four, and 4.9% people voted five. What these results mean is that in general, both students and teachers at Shaker are not looking forward to the big change next year. 

The next question asked to explain why respondents chose the number they did, and here are some of the responses: 

My focus level is only long enough for 40 mins.

Huge change

I greatly prefer multiple classes with multiple topics, than spending a lot of time on just a few

Nervous to see how it works out.

I am excited for it because we will get less homework each day and more time to study for each class

I feel like block scheduling would help a lot with sports when it comes to homework, but my biggest fear is if teachers give double homework since we only see them every other day. If they keep the same rate of homework now while having block scheduling, then that would be perfect. 

I think an hour and 25 minutes is too long to expect 9th graders to sit or be confined to one room. It’s probably more manageable for juniors and seniors.

I am looking forward to less transitions between classes, more consistency in class, I am concerned about absent students

I like having the time between classes to walk around, meet up with friends, and get to class. The way the classes are right now I feel is perfect, we get things done but it isn’t so long that we’re always focused on when class ends. I feel like going to block scheduling would make it much harder for me to pay attention. Additionally, going through two days of material in one makes it much harder to retain material.

Nervous about how students will feel in the extended time – difficulty focusing in some classes with only 47 minutes.

Every schedule has advantages and disadvantages.  I am looking forward to having more time in one class period to work with students and navigate challenges together.  

It’s a great idea, which should be permanent. More time to do homework. Less confusing for people as well because of less classes.

I believe block scheduling will be very draining and hard to maintain an attention span for that long of a period.

There will be more hands-on and interactive group based learning instead of lecture based classes.

Based on the responses, the consensus seems to be that most students and teachers are worried about the ability to focus and pay attention during the block periods. In addition to that, people at Shaker are worried that it is a big change and will be hard to adapt to. On the other hand, block scheduling will also bring about more time to study for each class and a less variety of homework each day. 

Let’s look at the advantages and disadvantages of both a block schedule and a traditional schedule. 

Advantages of block schedule: 

• Teachers have more instruction, which allows for more opportunities for practice and understanding. 
• Students will be able to dive deeper into a specific topic, rather than split the topic up into two days. 
• More time will allow for more hands-on and collaborative learning. 

Disadvantages of a block schedule: 

• Students will not go to each class everyday, which might result in a lack of consistency. 
• If students are absent one day, it could be difficult for them to catch up. 
• Even though the periods would be twice as long, because they will be every other day, it might feel like students have less time to learn. 

Advantages of a traditional schedule: 

• Students might be able to focus better and pay more attention over short intervals of time. 
• Shorter periods will allow students more breaks and more opportunities to see friends and do other tasks throughout the day. 
• Meeting every day will allow students to remain consistent in their work, whereas in block scheduling, there would be a day between a class that might result in some forgotten material. 

Disadvantages of a traditional schedule: 

• Less time for teachers to work one-on-one with students. 
• Students might feel overwhelmed by so many daily homework assignments from each class,  and might be struggling to organize their time to finish it all.
• Students will get less time to study for any tests or quizzes during their classes. 

There are pros and cons to both changes and schedules. It’s inevitable that Shaker is going to change to block scheduling starting in the school year of 2024-2025. Although it might be a bit difficult to adapt at first, it will definitely get easier as time passes. So why don’t you tell me, what’s your opinion?