It can be very tedious to watch the same lesson taught 6 times in a day to 8th graders. How tedious is it to teach that lesson 6 times? I taught a lesson 4 times one day this past week, and by the 4th time, my energy was certainly low.
In the middle school classes I've observed this past 2 months, none of the teachers mixed up their schedule of lesson plans in order to give themselves some variety in the day, for example by teaching negative numbers this week to periods 1, 3, & 5 and decimal addition to periods 2, 4, 6 and then switching. Some, but not all, did have breaks in the routine where they taught an advanced class. I have been watching to see how they re-energize during the day, and how they keep the lesson fresh. It seems hard, and having a planning break in the middle of the day helps.
It makes me wonder why schools don't rotate their schedules: say a student has classes A, B, C, D, and E. The school schedule could have A be first period one week, then move it to 2nd and move E to 1st, etc. This wouldn't help with the tedium of teaching the same class over and over, but it would mean that students would get energetic, early in the day instruction in all subjects over the course of a year.
You can get used to anything, but as I have watched the same lesson being taught 6 times in a day to 8th graders, I have been struck by how tedious that can be. I was the teacher for a lesson given 4 times in a day this past week, and by the fourth time, my enthusiasm was low.
In the middle school classes I've observed this past 2 months, none of the teachers mixed up their schedule of lesson plans in order to give themselves some variety in the day, for example by teaching negative numbers this week to periods 1, 3, & 5 and decimal addition to periods 2, 4, 6 and then switching. Some, but not all, did have breaks in the routine where they taught an advanced class. I have been watching to see how they re-energize during the day, and how they keep the lesson fresh. It seems hard, and having a planning break in the middle of the day helps.
It makes me wonder why schools don't rotate their schedules: say a student has classes A, B, C, D, and E. The school schedule could have A be first period one week, then move it to 2nd and move E to 1st, etc. This wouldn't help with the tedium of teaching the same class over and over, but it would mean that students would get energetic, early in the day instruction in all subjects over the course of a year.
You can get used to anything, but as I have watched the same lesson being taught 6 times in a day to 8th graders, I have been struck by how tedious that can be. I was the teacher for a lesson given 4 times in a day this past week, and by the fourth time, my enthusiasm was low.
I have thought about switching the schedule around on a regular basis even in elementary school. I am a person who is most alert and productive in the morning, but I know some people who aren't. If we have a system for rotating the schedule, both teacher and student would have some days of every subject at their optimum teaching or learning times.
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