Solving the issue of wavering student engagement is no easy task. But it's an important one. Consider this scenario. You ask a high school student - "What do you want to do after high school?" The answer? "I don't know." As students get closer to graduation, most of us [...]
Chronic absenteeism, referring to a student who is missing more than 10% of the school year, is of rising concern for schools and districts nationwide. Rates have doubled since the pandemic; from pre-pandemic levels of 13% to 26% for the 2022-23 school year. When students aren’t in school, they [...]
At one High School in Massachusetts, administration was searching for transformation. As in many schools across the country, educators are seeking a way to improve learning for students, to make the shift from a schedule driven by content, to one that enables students to build relationships, master what they're [...]
One of my favorite scenes in literature is where Tom Sawyer convinces all the boys in the neighborhood to whitewash the fence for him, a task he had been given as punishment. Not only does he not have to do the work, but his friends all empty their pockets of [...]
“An intervention period? There’s no time for that.” “Flexible time in our bell schedule sounds great…but I don’t know where to start.” There’s no denying it: school schedules are busy. Between classes, passing periods, lunches, activities, pep rallies, and drills…every minute at school is precious. Given this, administrators, teachers, [...]
WIN (What I Need) time is an effective tool for middle and high schools. But what is it, why does it matter, and how can WIN work in block schedules? Let's dig in, and talk a little bit first about block scheduling. Decades ago, before the internet and smartphones, [...]
All schools have a curriculum that should be accessible to all students. But, it’s an unavoidable fact that not all students will be able to access the material in the same way. In some cases, they might have great difficulties in accessing the material at all. While many factors [...]
Walk into a typical high school, and you see students hustling from class to class. With a traditional high school schedule, students may have seven classes at a time. That's sort of like having seven different bosses. High school is hard enough without the constant ringing of bells, [...]
Let’s face it, there is perhaps no more traumatic time in a person’s life than the precarious middle school years. With all of the physical and mental changes that are happening, students often have trouble finding their place in the world. Simple things like classroom assignments can be overwhelming, and [...]
Flex time is a flexible period of time in a school schedule where students can get what they need, when they need it. It empowers teachers to give students what they really need -- time, during the school day. Flex time usually lasts for 30-45 minutes. However, it can [...]