The Solution Jan 29. 2013 | Comments (0)
Hey everyone, I'm so joyous with the turn-out of people who support the block schedule alongside me. I think it is extremely important for students and parents to speak up when controversial decisions are being made. Being involved in a block schedule since 6th grade, I can't exactly tell you i've experience both and can tell you which is better. But I know that for many of you, you have gotten a chance to see the advantages and disadvantages of both. Now, I have discussed and researched this issue for many hours, and have decided that this petition is the right step in a good direction for the students and for the school district. The problem with just criticizing the 8-period is that some changes do indeed have to be made in order to improve academic performance. So, that is why I propose a 4x4 schedule, which would entail a schedule similar to that of Moore MST middle school. Each class has an equal amount of time, and no class is "favorited" with extra time like our current hybrid-block allows. I believe it is a good compromise between the school district's goals as well as the student's wants and goals. The 4x4 schedule will basically give more time for everything; more time for teachers to prepare their lesson plans and attend their PLC meetings; more time for students to indulge within the topic of the day and more time for everyone. As well, it should be pointed out that the reason we are currently in block schedule was due to campaigning on part of TISD to change from the traditional schedule. One solid reason is that can actually be proven is that disciplinarian referrals will indeed reduce in a block schedule. However, there is no solid evidence saying that an 8-period day will be better academically. There are so many factors into determining what produces academic success that there are studies and then counter-studies that will always contradict each other. So I believe that the school district must maintain consistency, and that starts by fixing the academic problem within the block schedule. As well, I believe that TISD should have previously consulted with more students, more faculty, and more parents, because the general message is that this entire deal was made seemingly unanimous while many people actually did not know that it took place until the Tyler Morning Telegraph released a story on it.