Making Creative Schedules Work in Middle and High Schools
Foreword by Gordon Cawelti
Use creative scheduling strategies to improve student-teacher relationships and promote more positive learning experiences!
Today's schools are responding to the pressing need for positive student-teacher relationships that promote successful learning and prevent dropouts and violence. To meet this challenge, many secondary schools are reorganizing around smaller schools or "houses" and structuring longer blocks of learning time.
Authors Elliot Y. Merenbloom and Barbara A. Kalina provide a step-by-step process for leaders and school teams focused on restructuring to promote more meaningful interaction between teachers and students. Through troubleshooting know-how, short real-life case stories, and detailed decision-making and planning charts, this roll-up-your-sleeves working handbook:
- Offers a thorough presentation of restructuring options with advantages and disadvantages of multiple models
- Walks leaders and teams through the decision-making and solution-building processes
- Presents instructional formats and strategies that maximize the benefits of restructured schedules
- Discusses how to prepare and communicate with students and parents about changes
This practical, user-friendly book helps teachers, school leaders, curriculum developers, and administrators fashion a vision that nurtures positive learning experiences and strengthens student achievement.
"The Strategies section is a good overview for building leaders to understand what should be going on in restructured settings. This book is fairly easy to follow and was clearly written by a seasoned practitioner."
"As an associate principal whose role is to develop and implement a master schedule, I truly valued the many charts and diagrams on schedule configuration. The Structures and Strategies section offers non-generic forms that are easy to transpose onto our school community's specific needs."
"Principals, teacher leaders, school leadership teams, school improvement committees, superintendents, school boards, and policymakers will find this book very useful."
