Need to hear from someone with experience in 4x4 planned high school day. My son 14 with ADHD and SLD in math and writing will enter hs in fall. Which is better for LD kids — shorter 6 period day or 90 minute long 4 period day??? He says he cannot see a 90 minute class.
Re: 4x4 high school schedule
Thank you Sara. I appreciate your individual thoughts on this message. I tend to agree and this is my source of worry with my son. Yes, longer periods and only 4 subjects may allow for more concentrated effort but the longer period is hard for kids to stay focused, especially ADHD.
Re: 4x4 high school schedule
Dear Christine,
I’ve been teaching in an AB block for two years. I teach 9th graders that are your child’s age. My students are in my class for 90 minutes a day. At first it is rough. However, with the right teacher, it can work. I’ve become a big advocate for it. There are drawbacks. The teacher has to be creative enough to keep their attention. If not, yes, your child and others with ADHD and even those without any differences will drive him or her crazy.
My first suggestion would be to go to the school and see exactly the designs of the classes. The teacher should have a lay out of what they will be doing for the whole 90 minutes. This is a web site that gives an example of what a 4x4, 90 minute block looks like: http://www.msdsteuben.k12.in.us/thendricks/class/classroom_management-on_4x4.htm
Maybe this web site could help you and your child out. It is different for the students at first that have never been in a block class. It is also very difficult. Your child will probably hate it to begin with. My advise is to take it one day at a time.Please be a very active parent and know your child’s teachers and what they do everyday. Tell the teachers ahead of time of your child’s differences so that they can prepare for them. Have your child make a homework notebook for you to check everyday. Also have your child at home practice ways to let out all of his excess energy. Make it fun. Here are a couple more web sites that can maybe be of some use to you.These two are mostly definitions of the 4x4 block:
http://www.netaxs.com/~twin/html/deftype.html
http://www.anderson5.net/instructional_services/4x4_block.htm
This one is more of the advantages and disadvantages:
http://www.jefflindsay.com/Block3.shtml#problems
Sorry this was so long. There’s still just a lot we don’t know about the block schedule. In my case where I teach, several kids that are ADHD, are teachable. It is possible for them to learn in a block setting. For them, with all of the different styles of teaching (a lot of hands - on and them doing the work) it makes the atmosphere less stressful. Make sure however,that the teachers know what’s going on and that this is not something your child can control. There are ways for them to break it down for these kids. Please let me know how it goes. If there are any problems with it e-mail me and maybe I can help out with more specifics.
GOOD LUCK!!
Sincerely,
Windy
It’s a good question. The theory behind longer periods is that more learning occurs. The kids, they say, get more settled in and get more done before the bell rings and sends them off. It’s supposed to allow for greater reflection and more hands-on kind of work.
I teach middle school and I dislike the extended periods. I can’t speak for high schoolers but certainly middle schoolers don’t have the attention spans for the longer periods. Science teachers tend to like them - that makes sense - it gives you good time for labs but as a Social Studies/Language Arts teacher I dislike them.
Of course, the flip side is it might be easier to organize and complete homework when only four classes have met that day.