60 to 90 Minutes: How Teachers are Adjusting to Longer Classes

60 to 90 Minutes: How Teachers are Adjusting to Longer Classes

60 to 90 Minutes: How Teachers are Adjusting to Longer Classes

Lizbeth Santos-Cruz

As we venture into a new month of a new school year, it’s not just students who are slowly attempting to get back into the groove of things. The present school year displays a stark contrast to the one experienced by current sophomores, juniors, and seniors last year, including longer blocks, different lunch schedules, and even different bell signals. But for the past two months, teachers at Central have been adapting to this return to full in-person learning too. And while all students can empathize with one another over the fatigue they often feel at the end of each school day, the same cannot be said about teachers. 

According to four different teachers at Central who teach various classes ranging from Anthropology to English, they all have similar feelings pertaining to the differences between this year and last year’s schedules. All four emphasized how challenging it was to cover all of the required curriculum with last year’s schedule in place, as they had much less time to teach the same amount of material required in a normal year. Therefore, they had little to no trouble this year with their lessons as their original lesson plans were created for 90 minute blocks. 

After switching back to longer blocks, however, one would assume teachers’ energy levels would take a toll, something that was explicitly expressed as anticipated. Three teachers mentioned experiencing a feeling of utter fatigue after the school day ended, as they were more used to last year’s 60-minute classes. Additionally, while teachers enjoy having more time with each of their respective classes, the sudden switch from 60 to 90-minute classes was understandably startling. Teachers and students will need some extra time to get used to this ‘new’ schedule– both mentally and physically. Furthermore, one teacher mentioned that the actual pacing of classes was something that would take some time getting used to, as they’ve noticed a slight gap in student learning in some subjects. This is a disadvantage experienced by students potentially as a result of quarantine and shorter school days.  

Some things to take note of are the positives that teachers have found in the swap from shorter classes to longer ones. Three participating teachers mentioned that longer blocks allowed for more one-on-one time with students, granting teachers the opportunity to not only fully engage with students but also permitting students and staff to participate in much more meaningful discussions during classes. Additionally, a few teachers mentioned that they no longer feel the need to rush through material in class, as they now have much more time for their lessons. This also works to the benefit of students, as they now have more time in class to complete each assigned activity, allowing them to finish more things during class. This leaves them with less homework and permits classwork to be done at a higher quality than if it were rushed–an all too familiar experience for many Hunterdon Central students. Furthermore, many positives were mentioned pertaining to the return to Central’s 90-minute block schedule as opposed to the 60-minute one, such as being able to more thoroughly go over lessons, having time for students’ questions at the end of class, and being able to prioritize and evaluate which lesson plans are most important.

While students might complain about having to adjust to this year’s schedule, they should remember that they were not the only ones who struggled during quarantine. As students and staff begin to navigate through this new school year, it should be understood that learning is the most important part of school for everyone, regardless of whether we’re in-person or virtual, with 60 minute blocks or full 7 hour school days. 

 

 Special thanks to the following for their kind help in making this article possible: 

  • Ms. Mulvihill 
  • Ms. Donhauser
  • Ms. Stutzman 
  • Mr. Myers