Northpinellas: Lessons go beyond the bells

CLEARWATER -- Last year, teacher Sherry Aglietti often found herself in the middle of a life science unit when the bell sounded, signaling the end of class.

She wasn't finished teaching, but her students closed their books and moved to their next class.

"The bell dictated when they were coming and when they were leaving," she said.

This year, Aglietti and three other teachers are deciding when their classes begin and end. A few weeks ago, when she needed 15 minutes of extra time for her students to complete their assignment, she simply asked her teaching team if they could spare the time from their classes.

It's a concept called flexible block scheduling, and four seventh-grade teachers have volunteered to pilot the schedule at Oak Grove Middle School. So far they have given it high marks.

"It allows (students) to start a task and complete a task," Aglietti said.

Provided this year is a success, principal Pat Bell hopes that more teams of teachers will embrace the strategy next year and that ultimately the entire school will.

The strategy isn't new. It has been around for at least 35 years, but it was pioneered by high schools and is now trickling down into middle schools, education experts say.

A handful of Pinellas middle schools use some form of flexible block scheduling. But 10 more are researching the strategy this year and visiting schools, said Jan Rouse, assistant superintendent of Pinellas middle schools.

The program is attractive because schools no longer have to do everything the same way. There also is a long list of benefits, from higher academic achievement to fewer discipline problems.

"The evidence seems to suggest whenever teachers collaborate, academic achievement goes up because time is used more effectively," said Paul George, a professor of education at the University of Florida and author of Making Big Schools Feel Small.

Those piloting the program at Oak Grove say their strategy has been far more efficient than traditional teaching. The four teachers plan units together. That way, the math teacher knows exactly what the geography teacher is doing. The geography teacher doesn't waste precious time teaching mapping skills when students have already learned how to do it in their math class.

This trims each teacher's lesson plan and allows her to devote more time to other areas.

Jennifer Monteiro used to spend a week teaching her students how to plot coordinates on a map in her geography class. This year, she only spent two days on it because the topic will be taught in depth during math.

"I'm three weeks ahead of where I was this time last year," she said.

It also gives teachers a strong defense against students who claim, "We just did that."

And they can design assignments that complement one another. A discussion about World War II in geography class fits nicely with reading Lily's Crossing, a novel set in 1944 just after D-Day, in language arts.

"I think they're going to walk away with a better understanding in both classes," said Sharon Ward, who teaches language arts.

Teachers point out other pluses. About 1,300 students attend Oak Grove each day; but in this corridor, there are only 160. The classes are all contained in the same portion of the building, leaving little excuse for their students to wander the halls and find trouble. In most cases, their lockers are nearby; and they only get two minutes to change from one class to the other.

The students are volunteers in the experiment, too. If a parent didn't want his child in the classes, school administrators simply rescheduled the child for the traditional class schedule.

The students attend classes with the same group of peers and rotate every 40 minutes to another class. When they aren't in language arts, math, geography or life science, they attend elective classes and lunch.

About 80 students start their day in academic classes, while 80 of their colleagues begin the day with electives, such as music, band or PE. At midday, the two groups swap places.

Despite the departure from the norm, students and parents have few complaints.

Some students don't like that they can't see their friends when classes change and don't have a lot of time to drag their feet in the halls. In some cases, they are relieved they don't have to zip from one end of the building to the next in four minutes flat. And they welcome the unstructured classes, especially the absence of the bells.

Those who start their day in elective classes, though, fear they may be tired when they need to concentrate on academics in the afternoon.

"If you have math in the morning, you'll pay more attention," said 12-year-old Himatej Veeramachaneni.

When the second semester begins, the two groups will flop, giving each a chance to experience taking their academic classes in the morning and in the afternoon.

As for the parents, they support the effort. They welcome the idea of two teachers coordinating their efforts and covering complementary topics at the same time. Some report their children seem to be more excited about school, and they are looking forward to receiving frequent progress reports from teachers.

"That is a big help for my son and for me because I need to know what's going on," said Cindy Becker, whose son, T.J., is a seventh-grader at Oak Grove.

Youngsters tend to do better under the arrangement.

John Hopkins Middle School in St. Petersburg has been using the teaching strategy for eight years with much success.

Hopkins principal Edward Baldwin says the program works because it makes a large school of 1,520 students seem smaller. Teachers there see a total of 140 kids during a semester. That helps youngsters identify and belong to a group. At his school, everybody is on a team. They have names such as the Manatees, Star Fish, Panthers and the Navigators.

The school has risen from a C school to a B school. Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test scores have steadily increased in math, reading and writing since 1998. And the percentage of students missing 20 or more days has declined from 17.5 percent in 1998 to 9.4 percent last year, a number significantly lower than county and state figures.

Much of that success, he said, comes from teachers forming relationships with students and their parents.

"They really get to know their kids," Baldwin said.

Bell, the principal at Oak Grove, is looking forward to the days when her school will post similar results.

"It's all about academics," Bell said. "It's all about learning and helping kids who have different (ways) of learning and being able to use time to meet their academic needs."

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