It is my contention that block schedules are good for science and social studies with laboratory and research discussions needing hours, but poor for mathematics (particularly AP courses) where daily exposure and practice is needed. But I can not find hard research results supporting this contention except on paid journal sites which I can't afford. Of course students and teachers like having only three or four classes to prepare for daily which teaches procrastination and thwarts everything we know from brain research about daily practice. For once the football coaches are right. if someone told them they could practice only every other day you bet there would be hundreds at the school board meeting. But for the AP Calculus teacher... an empty chamber. No one really cares about success in rigorous courses except to write more rhetoric expounding on how they are providing rigor with no one left behind. BS and I don't mean Bachelor of Science.
2007-02-23 11:29:15 · 3 answers · asked by Friar Jak 2 in Education & Reference ➔ Teaching
I agree with you; the same is true for foreign language.
Are you a teacher or a student? If you are either you may subscribe (for free) to a journal site through your local university. If you are a student at a university then you usually use your user ID and password for your email account there. If you do not have one then go to the library and ask.
If you are a teacher then ask the librarian at your school. She should be able to get a password and ID for you in very little time. Mine got one for me the same day. If you do not want to wait for Monday, then you if you have a friend who goes to university ask them to log you in and let you search a little.
Another tip; your school may not be willing to completely do away with block scheduling, but some schools have the 4x4 block with a regular 1 or 2 periods in the middle that last all year. This helps them for scheduling lunches. Maybe they would consider that. Of course, you cannot teach ALL math classes at the same time, but it could help with perhaps some of the more difficult classes.
2007-02-23 13:57:22 · answer #1 · answered by Melanie L 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They can't really complain at all, since languages and literacy have been staples of education since ancient times, when men were trained to take positions as public servants. Boys were expected to memorize and recite, become expert public speakers, learn Latin and numerous other languages, and study literature and argumentation. This was what education consisted of until the late 19th century. I would in fact say America's current curriculum has far less of a language and literacy focus than past European curriculums, through which boys received far superior educations than their female counterparts.
2016-03-29 09:19:15 · answer #2 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's really hard to sit through 90 minute classes every day. I am not willing to pay attention for that long, so I often zone out and miss a lot of what the teachers are saying.
Ugh... AP calc sucks..
2007-02-23 11:39:59 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋