Whew!  I made it!  I have read several blogs of teachers and their first day/week.  I am glad to know that teachers everywhere experience the same chaos that I have.  The weather here for my first two days was 90!  I am on the second floor of my building where the sun shines for the first five hours of the day!  Can you say sticky? 

The jury is still out on this block scheduling thing.  Our students are concerned about retention, bordom, limited passing time and packed lunch periods!  Block scheduling affects all of these areas.  My former principal always said that the students are the ones who should be working hard, not the teacher.  Well, this week facilitating 3 different activites per block period,  I was exhausted!  I know I worked harder. The students were clear about the fact that they were sure these 80 minute classes would be soooo boring.  However, get this, when I actually asked them to physically move, I heard groans!  I can’t win.

The block is superb for my Honors class and for my college senior class.  Both classes met and enjoyed discussing, looking deeper into litereature and working in groups.  For these students the 80 minutes works beautifully.

The two day week I had was certainly an eye opener.  I can only hope that as they days move along the students and I will all get used to lengthened classes.