Block schedules, which typically include fewer, longer class periods, have replaced usual class schedules in some schools. In my opinion, block schedules are not beneficial over a normal seven-period 55-minute school day. With longer classes students may struggle to pay attention, retain less information and with longer class periods, it’s harder for teachers to plan.

In my classes, I already notice that a lot of times when a teacher is done with a lecture, there will still be ten to fifteen minutes of free time for students. With block schedules, it would be even harder for teachers to plan something that would keep students engaged for the full 90 minutes. If schools did implement block days and if teachers did try to create longer lectures or more activities for students to do, it would still be very hard to get students to pay attention because students already have a hard time paying attention during normal class hours. I think that simply being in one classroom for an hour and a half can be boring and make it even harder for students to focus.

Going from having seven classes a day to only three or four classes makes it so that students are also social with fewer people because many times, being in the hallway or going to different classes is where you are with new people that you might not be able to see in some other classes. With fewer transitions between classes, students have less opportunity to interact with a wider range of classmates throughout the day. Only being in certain classes every day reduces the chances for students to regularly see and interact with friends who might not be in all their classes.

It is not uncommon for students to have conflicts like sports or being sick that make it so that they need to miss a couple of days of school. With block schedules, even missing just one day of school means that you miss so much in one class and when you do go to school the next day, you do not have the same classes so you are not able to catch up the next day. Also, missing a block schedule class can result in a large amount of homework piling up which can be overwhelming for students because they will feel stressed and rushed to catch up on most missed and current assignments in their classes. With less frequent class meetings, students might find it harder to get help from teachers and might need to wait several days before they can ask questions or get clarification on missed assignments. Rescheduling tests would also be harder since in the classes, students may have gotten practically the whole class period to work and the next time they met in that class they would have moved on to new material. That means it would be less likely students could take the test before or after school and would end up falling even more behind if they had to retake the test in class another day and miss even more lectures and assignments.

Not having all your classes in one day can also make it hard for students to remember what they learned in past lectures since they are not reviewing every day. This can make it hard for upcoming tests and assignments that they might have to do at home. With longer classes, lots of material can be covered in 90 minutes, which can be overwhelming for students and make it difficult to absorb all the material and retain all the information. Traditional schedules allow for a more frequent review which can help reinforce learning. The irregularity of block schedules can also disrupt a student’s study habits for reviewing and practicing material since they might have an overload of homework from classes the previous day as well as things they might need to study for in classes they have the current day.

Overall, I think that while block schedules aim to provide in-depth learning opportunities, they often fall short in supporting students’ success. Having block schedules can be beneficial for things like finals week, but implementing it as a daily schedule would not be helpful. It would just be too hard to change the routine for students and it would be difficult to pay attention as well as having activities and plans to keep students occupied for a full 90 minutes.