A Better Schedule for Sparta High School ~ by Hannah Ramos

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A friend of mine attends Morris Knolls High School. During a casual conversation she described to me what her "A Day, B day" schedule was like in her High School. Each student has 4 classes a day for 88 minutes each, and then a different 4 classes the next day. I found that this schedule had way more positives then the block schedule at Sparta High School. The A Day B Day schedule reduces so much stress for students for many different reasons. With this schedule, students have 2 nights to complete homework for a class. This is especially helpful for students who do after school activities and struggle with finding time to do their homework. The A Day B Day schedule also makes classes longer, making in class work easier to complete in one period, and makes more time to complete a test. As some people know, I have an alternative schedule, and an A Day B Day schedule would also make an alternative schedule easier for myself and other students. Because of the rotation block schedule, I have to completely cut 4 of my last classes out of my schedule, and do them online, in order to leave early. If I wanted to leave early with the A Day B Day schedule, I would be able to leave before the last period of the day and only have to do 2 classes online instead. Just like Morris Knolls High School, I think that Sparta High School would also greatly advantage from the A Day B Day schedule.
Students would welcome an Education AI

Comments

  1. AnonymousSeptember 15, 2019 at 10:47 AM

    I never even thought about a schedule like this but it sounds like a really good idea. It would work better for everyone because a lot of people have unique schedules and this would help for stress. I really like this idea

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  2. AnonymousSeptember 15, 2019 at 10:48 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  3. Paige SumowskiSeptember 15, 2019 at 2:04 PM

    This is so interesting... I think it is definitely true that having an A- B day schedule would allow for more time to do school work, but would students be able to focus for that long? I know at least for me, there are some classes that I would love to be longer, but others where I have a tough time focusing for just 42 minutes. One of the things that I find really helpful about highschool is the constant change of scenery. Benedict Carey, a reporter studying learning, explained in his book How We Learn that different learning environments while studying can help with focus and retention because with more environments come more cues to trigger memory and keep a person stimulated and focused. I think this is true for schools too. I remember in elementary school, when we had the same teachers all day, I would constantly stare at the clock, despite the changes in material (like from going from math to history). However, once we went to the middle school, I was able to focus more on each class because I only had to focus for so long, and then I would get to go somewhere else. By staying in the same environment, I'm not sure if every student would be able to focus, and therefore, accomplish much in a class that's over an hour. What do you think? Do you think there is a way to ensure students can work throughout the 88 minutes? If you left early on an A-B day schedule, do you think you would still have a lot of online work due to the increased material discussed during the classes?

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  4. DanielleSeptember 16, 2019 at 4:17 AM

    We don't really have a block schedule here because we only have 42 minute classes and you know that most of us usually with we had more time each day. I think SHS is considering schedule changes, so when/if they ask for student input, you should give them this information!

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  5. AnonymousSeptember 16, 2019 at 8:39 AM

    I completely agree with this!! That sounds so much better and less stressful than what we have now.

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  6. AnonymousSeptember 17, 2019 at 5:07 PM

    This could definitely be a good change for Sparta, and it would definitely help with cases like yours. The only tricky thing about it would be that it would be hard for Sparta to do the shared day system that we have with Sussex Tech, and it would also be hard to make up your work if you're absent one day.

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  7. AnonymousSeptember 18, 2019 at 5:50 AM

    I completely agree! My cousin goes to Mahwah HS, and she explained that she gets a lot of time to enjoy classes and complete the homework for that class. She did tell me though that the teachers take this into consideration, and give her and her classmates so much homework BECAUSE they have two nights to do it. I do like the idea of an A/B day schedule though...it definitely has more positives than negatives.

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  8. AnonymousSeptember 29, 2019 at 9:48 AM

    I agree, that would make school a lot better. They should also have school start later!!!!!

    ReplyDelete

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