This is Jennifer Gonzalez welcoming you to Episode 75 of the Cult of Petticoju Podcast.

In this episode, we're going to talk about how you can teach a 90-minute block class, like a boss.

I'm going to read you portions of a letter written to a Charlotte,

North Carolina newspaper in 2002 by a first-year math teacher, a man who was vehemently opposed

to block scheduling. Quote, I am a first-year high school math teacher. My school operates on a

block schedule. A concept I had never even heard of until I accepted this teaching position.

My observations of block scheduling have been a shocking education for me.

Block scheduling has resulted in less emphasis on core content and more on gimmickery.

Classes used to be places where serious learning took place. No more.

Under block scheduling, they have become little more than glorified playtime periods.

Classes used to consist of core subject material being communicated to students by individuals

rich in knowledge and experience. Now teachers are no longer teachers but merely guides,

glorified babysitters if you will. Under block scheduling, the students are now in groups trying

to discover facts that used to be communicated instantly when teachers actually taught.

It's obvious that this format wastes valuable class time, and that doesn't include the time

students waste by talking, singing, and becoming restless all around as a result of the length

in class periods. This letter articulates the concerns some teachers, parents, and even

students have about block scheduling, where class periods last 80 to 100 minutes and only

four classes are held each day. This type of schedule became popular in middle and high schools

in the 1990s as an alternative to the traditional schedule, where students attend the same six to eight

classes 45 to 50 minutes each every day. The idea behind the change was that with less transition

time between classes fewer instructional minutes would be wasted and the kinds of behavior issues

...