Exploring trimesters pros and cons

[roao]

We are a high school of about 380 students. Our administration seems to think we should go the trimesters to offer more electives. Anyone teaching the trimester format? How's it going? Thanks for the input

[Unregistered]

Teenage attention spans are too short. Seventy minute class periods are too long for students and too short for activities. A school board member approached one of our teachers to inquire as to the effectiveness of the trimester and that person has been asking around. With all the high stake testing in the core subjects the trimester does not offer enough quality time. Students can not commit to writing, working math problems, or listening to lectures for seventy minutes. If students have an opportunity to work a little each day for more days, they appear to have understood the process more. As a math teacher I try to "chunk." I teach a concept, have a short practice, teach another concept, have another short practice and so on. Students do not like it because they think they are done after the first concept. They complain that it's too much. If I don't do that, there is way too much time with nothing that they will do. Students have absolutely refused to do any more at times with me because the Principal expects us to work them bell to bell. Multiply that times five because that's the number of classes they have in one day. I believe that students feel as if they are on overload. The teachers that do like the seventy minutes are the ones that have labs, although I think seventy minutes is still not enough for them. I still get students with late passes. Take the time to stop and think about the preparation time required to learn how to develop a good essay. In algebra, I feel as if I am cramming the material into the students. Retention is obviously low. My own daughter is an advanced student with all A's into her Junior year, but yet when I ask her questions about Algebra 2, she can't remember. Granted students only have five classes, but because of curriculum requirements students are expected to digest one to two chapters per week. I reflect on my high school experience and we practiced daily. I went to college ten years after high school to become a math teacher and I still remembered how to do the majority of the work. What I didn't know, I hadn't been taught well because even with semesters we couldn't get everything covered as equally well. Another problem is that the middle schools are still on semesters so freshmen enter thinking that they have time. Our middle school students don't suffer reprocussions for failing classes and it's hard for them to understand they have to earn their credits in high school to graduate. One of the things that we were told in the beginning that students would be given more opportunities to retake classes under a trimester schedule. I propose that under the semester schedule that maybe they wouldn't have to think about retaking classes. I am going to be teaching Algebra 1 - 1st semester to juniors this next trimester. How many times would you want to take a class that you failed in? I think I would feel like giving up and not doing anymore. Classes that students fail should probably be retaken as a night class. The work ethic is diminished because there's not that time to prepare quality work. Just think about it before you all jump on the bandwagon.

[annettemcd]

I think that you are confusing trimesters with block scheduling. I think that it is possible to have trimesters without block scheduling. There are perhaps some subjects and/or sections of subjects which do not require an entire semester or an entire year. There is the possibility of the same number of classes per day, but a different annual arrangement.

Since the second post is obviously from a math teacher, think of perhaps, 1/3 or 2/3 of a year of Trigonometry instead of 1 or 2 semesters. In English, in four years, instead of eight semesters have twelve trimesters and perhaps explore a trimester of poetry, one of technical writing, one of etymology, mixed in with two trimesters of British Literature, etc.

Trimesters could add more options for short coverage of particular subject, especially with electives. A student might also be a little more willing to explore something new or different if they were investing less time in the exploration: a trimester of wood shop, one of welding, and one of sewing.

It is an option which offers more flexibility. There is the problem, like transferring between two schools, one of which have trimesters and the other with semesters, but it has been worked out in the post secondary education environment.