THIS Was a Flex Schedule!

When Nancy D. asked, 'Does anyone in the Teacher Leaders Network use a flex schedule? I'd love to know how teachers work out who gets what time and how students are grouped,' she got quite an answer.

Anne wrote:

I had an unusual situation with regard to flex scheduling. Our system opened a new middle school, and our principal was a true middle school believer. He put kids and teachers in teams, blocked out the times that our students would go to electives/PE and lunch, and told us -- "The rest of the day is yours. No bells." Wow! What would you do as a team of teachers if your principal told you that?

Two grade levels went right back to traditional periods. However, we eighth-grade teachers decided to push it to the max! We figured out how many minutes each student needed in each subject per week to meet state requirements. We looked at the available time -- noticing that the time did not work out in five equal parts -- so we put our kids on a rotating block schedule. We designed it so that no class would meet "last period" more often than once per week. (Now, THAT could be the topic of a dissertation in itself! No question that the time of day a class meets has a tremendous influence.)

The neat thing was that we were free to keep changing and adjusting. We tweaked our first schedule after about four weeks so that all kids rotated to classes in a particular order . . . math, science, language arts, history, and critical thinking and problem solving. That meant that when they changed classes everyone just moved one classroom to the left -- no crisscrossing between rooms -- for a smoother traffic flow.

As far as how to group students, that was always a challenge. But keep in mind that we had freedom to make changes as needed so we felt truly empowered, and we felt that discipline issues were things we could deal with. We started out by dividing up students pretty much randomly. Then we observed them, decided which ones would be better off apart, and made some adjustments after four weeks or so. Keep in mind that we all taught these students and the classes were heterogenous, so being switched from one group to another was no big deal in terms of any kind of change in teaching and learning.

Our biggest "go out on a limb" moment was one I'll never forget. Because our school was a new facility, the 8th grade wasn't full that year -- students were already enrolled at other middle schools and were not asked to change. So our 8th grade that first year was made up of transfer students . . . and do I need to tell you who was transferred? I'm imagining that the other area middle schools undoubtedly had trouble-free 8th grade classes that year!

Anyway, being empowered to make professional decisions about classes and students is energizing, and we dealt with the influx of students with problems. By the second semester we made a decision that shook our principal to the bone, but to his credit he didn't stop us. (Later he credited us for a wise decision).

We realized that we had 22 young men in our student group who were either felons, on medication for various behavior disorders, or both. These guys could pretty much tear apart a class -- even if just four or five of them were in it. And, they were learning absolutely nothing. So we pulled them together into a class of their very own. The purpose was not to punish them for having problems -- it was to allow us to find a way for them to leave school that year (maybe for the first time in their lives) having actually had an enjoyable learning experience of some sort.

Of course, the start-up was rough. Some parents were drastically unhappy and came to visit, but we were able to show them our plans, their child's need for some successful experiences, and with the principal's support we kept the students grouped that way.

As the year went on, a professor from a nearby university met with these guys to help them select a site for a wetland for the school area. (The students decided they wanted a wetland -- certainly not a suggestion from the central office.) These young men took real ownership of this project, and they built an entire wetland -- weir and all -- and with the help of the other 8th grade students, they stocked it plants from the area. I have so many funny and memorable stories, and so many warm thoughts about these young men. They were great outside and worked together cooperatively. Inside it was a whole different story. (We used to reflect together on the different dynamics in the outside and inside class.)

We were able to do ongoing projects like this with students because we could use the flex schedule to lengthen or shorten periods as we desired, so long as we were able to give each subject the correct number of minutes each week.

Nancy, this has been a gruelingly long answer to your concise question. Teachers worked out the schedule times by sheer determination, force of will, and gratitude that we had freedom and support in our teaching journey that year. Same with dividing students. We had no formula or written procedure. And I can't say enough for our principal. Despite his doubts, shakes, and probably sheer terror at times, he made a commitment to support us as leaders and professionals, and he did so.