The Mycenaean

Block scheduling is a program based off of two semesters that are four classes each. Traditional schedules are different in that seven to eight classes are taken year long.

As I have progressed through high school, I have started to notice the various benefits as well as the drawbacks of block scheduling. Instead of having to go to six or seven different classes each day, as students in traditional schools do, I only have to focus on four classes at once. I do not have to spend my afternoon completing homework for each of my seven classes, only for my four classes. Also, with block scheduling each class is around an hour and twenty minutes, which provides plenty of time for different, interactive teaching methods.

Mr. Lyons, Leesville principal, also believes block scheduling has several advantages.

“[Block scheduling] gives each student a greater opportunity to take more electives. Students who are not successful first or even second semester can recuperate that credit without having to wait an entire year,” said Lyons.

Yet as a tired teenager, I often find it hard to pay attention during those long class periods. An hour and twenty minutes is often too long to spend on the same subject, and it is easy for our classes to become exceptionally tiresome as the period drags on. When teachers choose to spend the entire class period lecturing, it only makes the students become more uninterested in the subject.

Lyons also realizes the faults of block scheduling.

“With block scheduling, teachers and student don’t get as much of an opportunity to build a relationship because the class is only a semester long instead of a year,” said Lyons.

Block scheduling is also very disadvantageous when it comes to absences. When students have to miss a class, especially fast-paced courses such as math, it is easy to fall behind and have a hard time catching up. Missing two days of school makes me feel stressed and so far behind the rest of the class. In math, if a student misses school and can not catch up fast enough, it creates a domino effect, for the student can’t learn the new material without learning the old information first.

Rachel Radulovich, junior, also finds block scheduling difficult when she misses school.
“When I missed a day of school for a yearbook field trip I also missed a math quiz, which I had to make up–and I was still behind the next day. So I can’t imagine being sick and missing a lot of school,” said Radulovich.

Ms. Covington, Leesville English teacher, personally prefers the seven period traditional schedule over block.

“[Traditional scheduling] is better for the students. You don’t get the same bond with your students or have the same amount of time. Also, all the AP tests are in the spring. When do students leave my class? January,” said Covington.

Although block scheduling has its pros and cons, it seems to even out to a good program. An academically rigorous school with helpful teachers, Leesville will provide a great education for all of its students, despite block or traditional scheduling. Whatever your preference may be- whether you are pro block schedules or pro traditional, try to find the benefits of both.