Two years ago, Benton Middle School/High School moved from an eight period day back to block scheduling. Since then, administrators and teachers have been focusing their professional learning on how to make teaching in the block a more engaging and rigorous experience for student learning.
A block class at Benton Middle School/High School is a large chunk of time, 84 minutes, designed to allow the teachers and the students to teach and participate in varied and numerous activities. It allows time for Universal (tier 1) instruction in the classroom, such as guided practice while giving teachers opportunities to reteach and teach in a small group setting if needed. The lengthy class time provides space to go deeper in lessons, give time for performance based activities, and get quick or in depth common formative assessment data. It also give teachers the opportunity to discuss with departmental or grade level collaborative learning data teams (CLDTs) and drive instruction.
The structure of block scheduling includes three parts: First, a warm welcome: a brief experience allowing students to connect with each other, prior knowledge, or the upcoming material. Followed by one of the five models of instruction: The Classic, The Workshop, The Lab, The Performance, or the Variety Pack. Lastly, ending the block class with an optimistic closure: closing the learning experience in an intentional way.