Dr. Melissa Shields, NBCT

mshields@alsde.edu

Slides

• Rock the Block - Virtual  (Summer 2022)

• Block Scheduling and the RTI/MTSS- Virtual  (Fall 2021)

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Helpful Resources and Literature

• Block Schedule Teaching Strategies - A Toolbox of Effective Teaching Ideas

• Pros and Cons of Block Schedule

• Block Schedule Revisited (some great descriptions of successful strategies)

• A-B Block Variations

• Sample Hybrid Schedules

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Five Skills We Need to Teach On a Block Schedule

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• Planning - The ability to develop a pacing guide or syllabus for the course in nine-week periods, which includes weekly and daily planning.

• Variety - The ability to use several instructional strategies effectively.

• Vision - The skill to design and maintain an environment that allows for great flexibility and creativity.

• Management - The desire and skill to be an effective classroom manager.

• Openness - The freedom to share the ownership of teaching and learning with the students.

http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/003172170008200307
 

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Patty Blume's Recommended Schedule - 5 Steps

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1. Skill/Concept Review......................10-15 minutes

2. Direct Instruction............................30-40 minutes

3. Shared practice....................................20 minutes

4. Individual Practice...........................20-30 minutes

5. Closure/ Reflection.........................10-15 minutes

1. Skill/Concept Review.............................................10-15 minutes
Great time for a quick formative assessment! 

• Quick write

• Word sort

• Cloze activity

• Sponges

• Embedded Digital Assessments (Computers, tables, cell phones)

HINTS! Take attendance and collect homework during this time.

2. Direct Instruction.................................................30-40 minutes

• Interactive lecture (i.e.: 10/2 or "Chunk and Chew" format)

• Cornell notetaking (with discussion during or afterward) Video Demo

• Shared reading or read aloud of text

• Introduction of new concept or skill with handouts or student note taking

3. Shared practice.......................................................20 minutes

• Small groups work collectively on task to practice skill or concept presented during Direct Instruction time.

• Strategies

  • Guided Reading - Demo Video

  • Numbered heads

  • Writing task

  • Jigsaw

  • Response Groups

  • Fishbowl Activity

    • High School Demo Video (Students analyzing and discussing Dr. King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail") - starts at 7:27

4. Individual Practice...............................................20-30 minutes

• Standards-based assignment work time

• Opportunity for individual conferencing

• Opportunity for students to clarify progress on tasks

5.Closure/ Reflection...............................................10-15 minutes

• Metacognitive Journal - (What did I learn/ How did I learn it? / How will I use it?)

• Reflection on a reading completed in class

• Time for students to set up for homework

http://blogs.scholastic.com/9_12/2008/10/effective-teach.html

 

 

Let's see what it can look like...

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LESSON IDEA

Making the Declaration of Independence

Come Alive (9 min)

Grades 9-10 / History / Independence

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Classroom Rounds Evidence Document 

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3 Step Block Class - Robert Canady 

Block expert Robert Lynn Canady recommends that we spend our days coaching instead of lecturing.
 

• We should shift from talking all day to our students to planning for student to work all day. “The teachers lead it; the students do it.”

• Canady developed a 3-step block schedule lesson plan based on Bloom’s Taxonomy.

• It is not a fixed 30-30-30 minutes.

• It is flexible and adaptable to the teacher’s and students’ needs.

Step 1 – EXPLANATION

• Teacher in charge and may teach in traditional manner

• Bloom’s Taxonomy - Remember

• Prior Knowledge

• Formative Assessments

• Mini-Lecture

• Make Lesson Relevant and Encourage Interest

Step 2 – APPLICATION

• The “heart” of the class and should take the most time

• Students are the workers and teacher is the coach. “The teacher moves to the sidelines.”

• Bloom's Taxonomy - Understand and Apply

• Examples:

  • Students working in pairs or groups

  • Socratic Seminar

  • Digital Learning

  • Interviews

  • Simulations

  • Think-Pair-Share

  • Debates

Step 3 – SYNTHESIS

• “Never let a class end without a class understanding the essential elements." Check for understanding and reteach if necessary.

• Bloom's Taxonomy - Analyze, Evaluate, and Create

• Make sure the content is relevant. “Why do I have to know this?”

  • What would Romeo and Juliet’s prom song be?

• Recall for next day. Use a “hook” if possible.

http://tech205.weebly.com/uploads/8/8/0/0/8800017/blockschedulespecialreport.pdf

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Stations in Block Schedule Class

Organize time by learning stations in which each station requires students to perform a task.

Sample Schedule

• Introduction – 15 min.

• Station 1 – 20 min.

• Station 2 – 20 min.

• Station 3 – 20 min.

• Close and Review – 10 min.

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Because they can, we must!

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