Effective Teaching in a Block Schedule

Recently, my school site missed meeting our targeted goals for our standardized testing for the first time :-(  As multiple rationales for such began swirling around campus, one of the ideas was that maybe our block schedule was ineffective.  I have always loved teaching in the block, so I stepped up and addressed some best practices for instruction under a block schedule that I have learned and with which I have had great success.

Know Your Teacher Persona

I had an interesting conversation with teacher-colleague a few days ago.  She brought up a meeting she had that morning with a former student of mine who was now in deep trouble and how he brought up what he learned in my class two years ago in the meeting.  She said, “Whatever you did for him when he was a Freshman still keeps you relevant in his life.”

Relevant.  I never heard that used as a compliment before, but I guess it’s an accomplishment to stay relevant in my students’ lives. 

Tour Patty's High School Classroom

Experienced teacher, Patty Blome, returned to her childhood community to teach English/Read 180 to 9^th graders at San Ysidro High School. Learn more.