Perhaps the largest challenge for us on the block-- is that, while students have more choices through out the year, they have less availability each semester, so we have to get creative sometimes and blend a few honors 3 and 4 students into a beginning or intermediate class. The other scheduling issue is to pay close attention to the Master Schedule so that say AP Lit is not opposite the honors theater class, etc. Other than that, the 90 minutes is nice for rehearsal and being able to do 3 or 4 things in a class period. I try to use a workshops model for my classes- beginning with a warm up, academic discussion, exercise or game, rehearsal, presentation, critique and closure, etc. The time can be used very well. And, in tech theater, it's great because 90 minutes really allows students to get into a project or activity before having to clean up. Scheduling can be an issue, however, so I would look out for that most above all.
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Michael Johnson
Trinity NC
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-16-2018 08:47
From: Christina Marshburn
Subject: Block Scheduling Question(s)
I teach on a 4x4 and love it as well!! I see the same students, same 3 classes everyday for the fall semester, and then my classes switch to 3 new classes for the spring semester. I came from a middle school schedule (45 min classes every other day) into this HS schedule so I was really worried about having 90 minute classes every single day - I thought that I wouldn't ever plan enough. That hasn't been the case; after the first 4-6 weeks I generally knew what I could accomplish in one block.
I have two pieces of advice: 1) OVER PLAN at first until you know exactly what you can get through with your particular classes, OR have an arsenal of games and fun activities you can turn to in the event you are left with time. 2) SPLIT UP THE BLOCK if at all possible by varying your activities - if I am doing something that's more academic, I will have them get up 30-45 minutes in and we do some physical activities so no one gets stir crazy.
I find that having the 90 minute block is really beneficial for rehearsal purposes - students can get a lot done for a monologue or scenes in 90 minutes.
Hope this helps! :)
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Christina Marshburn
Theatre Teacher and Director
Williamsburg VA
Original Message:
Sent: 02-16-2018 07:31
From: Brooke Phillips
Subject: Block Scheduling Question(s)
I teach on a 4 x 4 block and I absolutely love it. Each class period we can focus on a skill or idea, practice it together and also give students individual time to workshop pieces or do more extensive projects. My drama one class is s survey type of course, and I teach Drama II (which is acting, writing and directing based) as well as sometimes a theatre appreciation (more history, radio and film) or a theatre technology class. My drama II class and Theatre Technology can be taken multiple times by students for continued elective credit.
Absences can he a problem, but I only deal with that in a major way every once in a while.
We don't have a set aside time for clubs and activities in the school day. I envy that idea and wish we could implement that!
Let me know if you'd like to see my class calendsrs/lesson plans. You can email me at bmphillips@mpsomaha.org as well.
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Brooke Phillips
Omaha NE
Original Message:
Sent: 02-16-2018 06:26
From: Victoria Chatfield
Subject: Block Scheduling Question(s)
While I didn't work on a block schedule per sey, I didn't see my students every day. (In fact, I only saw my students once a week.) A couple of pitfalls to look out for if you're only going to be seeing your students sporadically:
1. Ensemble Building
I found it much more difficult to build a classroom environment where students trusted one another (and me) when I was seeing them so rarely. I also couldn't really develop meaningful one-on-one relationships with any of them (although that also had to do with the fact that I was teaching 350+ students every week). I'd recommend reserving the first 20 minutes of every block for ensemble-building activities, even if there's more pressing material that needs to be covered. The good news is that with a longer block, you really have the ability to make that happen!
2. Material Retention
My students definitely struggled more with material retention when I wasn't seeing them every day. I wish that I'd invested more time in teaching blocking notation, memorization strategies, note-taking skills, etc. I taught all of those skills, of course -- but I needed to continue teaching and reinforcing them throughout the academic year, since they turned out being so integral to the success of that class.
3. Absences
Absences were so much worse on this schedule. If a student was absent for a day, that put them so far behind their peers. It meant when they returned, they'd not only missed a ton of new material, they were also much more likely to have forgotten the previously-taught material. We were supposed to be staging a final public performance in that class; that never happened because while we'd make progress towards that goal, getting the students off-book and caught up with blocking changes ended up being impossible. Definitely recommend making bite-size goals for the class; don't get too ambitious until you're used to working with the new schedule.
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Victoria Chatfield
Executive Director
National Theatre for Student Artists
www.nationalstudenttheatre.org
vchatfield@nationalstudenttheatre.org
Original Message:
Sent: 02-15-2018 15:28
From: Jared Wright
Subject: Block Scheduling Question(s)
Hello,
Next year, we are moving from a schedule that contains 7 classes per day (6 taught and one planning period), something similar to a 4x4 block schedule with 80-minute classes and 40 minutes each day allocated for student enrichment and/or clubs, TAA, etc. I was wondering...are any of you on a similar schedule and how has this affected your theatre classes? I <g class="gr_ gr_683 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Punctuation only-del replaceWithoutSep gr-progress sel" id="683" data-gr-id="683">imagine,</g> since I will only be teaching three of the four classes per day, that I will have a Drama I, Drama II, and then another class. Perhaps Acting I or what have you. How are your classes set up? What are the challenges? I am just trying to see what I can look forward to.
Thank you in advance for all of your help.
Jared
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Jared Wright
Thomaston GA
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