Every Wednesday and Thursday, instead of the traditional seven-class, 50-minute schedule in middle schools, Interlake employs a modified schedule with fewer but longer (90 minute) classes. With fewer classes, teachers are better equipped to teach more material within a class period, allowing students to delve into more topics or activities in one period. While students acquire more knowledge, given that they are given significantly more time, it may be tedious. The purpose of this article is to explore the advantages and disadvantages of block periods using data we gathered from the students themselves.

Recently, a Google Form was sent out asking students about their opinions on block periods. The majority (63.7%) of the 114 respondents were freshmen, with 22.1% of responses from sophomores, 11.5% from juniors, and an extremely small fraction of 2.7% from seniors. Overall, one-third of the students that responded loved block periods, 29.8% disliked them, and others either hated or had mixed feelings about block periods. However, the students’ opinions may differ depending on what grade the students may be in.

Most either liked, strongly disliked, or had mixed feelings about block periods. The students that liked block periods mentioned that a longer class period contains more instructional value; it enables students to engage in longer labs and in-class activities without interruption to go more in-depth into a specific subject.

“Block days allow longer activities to take place in one day. For example, science labs are more advanced due to the access to more time,” explains Liam Ko, a freshman. “They also allow more productive time, as I find the first five to ten minutes always start slowly in my classes, reducing the number of times we have to restart a class is nice.”

“Although block periods can drag on some days, they provide the crucial opportunity for teachers to give extended work times, longer projects/lessons, and larger exams.” Prisha Hemani, a senior, remarks. “Of course, sometimes, they are used to just give busy work, but I believe they should stay, simply because they are needed.”

While some may appreciate the extended class time for certain subjects, such as in-depth science experiments or lengthy writing assignments, others have mentioned that it may be challenging to focus for an extended period of time, which may, in turn, negate the benefits of block periods.

“It gets pretty tiring doing the same thing for 1.5 hours, and even from an educational standpoint you effectively lose instructional time due to breaks being manually implemented in the class as well,” says Cady Wu, a freshman. “There doesn’t really seem to be a need for block days other than just for schedule design, since most people’s attention span isn’t high enough to actually focus on one subject for such an extended period of time, so overall it doesn’t seem to be a net benefit in any category.”

“The teachers are unable to keep the students focused for the entire time because for most of the classes, the 50 minutes is a good amount of time for learning, not too much so that it is not engaging, and not too little so it seems like we are not learning anything,” Krishna Sridhar, 9th.

Even though teachers may teach less material in normal 50-minute periods, students are more likely to stay focused and absorb the content rather than being overwhelmed with too much material. Block periods can sacrifice crucial elements in a classroom setting, such as engagement or participation.

“90 minutes of any class is unbearable, most teachers already have boring 50 min classes, it just gets amplified with the 90 min periods, I feel braindead after block days,” says Vishal Panthangi, a junior.

“Though block periods give classes a chance to do longer activities, it depletes the energy of the class and sitting in one place for so long makes me and other students super tired/bored,” says Krithi, a senior.

However, students’ opinions may also depend on what classes they have on block days.

“It all depends on what classes you have! like 1.5hours straight of classes you dislike sucks, but if it’s a good class then it’s fun.” Alexandra Hui, a junior, mentions. “Block days feel shorter somehow honestly, which is also pretty nice.”

“All my favorite classes are on one day so that day is great and then the other days alright too, I guess” adds Evan Shen, another junior.

The diversity of opinions underscores the need for schools to continually assess the effectiveness of their block scheduling and make adjustments as necessary to meet the needs of all students. A common problem that students have identified was that it may get annoying if teachers do not give them a break and keep them working for 90 minutes straight, which may make some students lose focus the longer the class goes on.

“It’s boring and I feel like I’m falling asleep in all of my block periods,” Nari, a junior, mentions. “It is a good time to do work but it also feels slightly draining, like when we have block days on Wednesday it feels like the longest day of the week even though it’s the shortest,”

“Sitting in 1 class for an hour and half can be really tiring. Especially if all the teacher does is talk the entire class period.” Lasya Yarlagadda, another junior, adds. “Some teachers don’t even give breaks during block days, so breaks would be appreciated.”

In conclusion, the debate over block periods is far from one-sided. The students’ voices, as reflected in our survey, are diverse: while some praise the extended class time for its potential to provide in-depth learning, others find it challenging to maintain focus during these longer periods. Ultimately, when it comes to block periods, it’s a matter of weighing the benefits against the challenges and striving to create a schedule that maximizes the learning potential for all students, ensuring that their educational experiences remain didactic, but also engaging and productive.