<p>I’m on a block schedule as well, and it includes eight classes total, with four a day. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays we have an “advisory” period, which I find really helpful because it can be used to have club meetings, do homework, or travel to other teachers’ rooms to ask questions. On Thursday, we get out half an hour early. Here are two typical days without those extras:</p>
<p>“A” Day: IB History HL, Teacher’s Assistant (no credit/functions as a study hall), Yearbook, IB Psych SL
“B” Day: IB English HL, IB TOK, IB Math HL, IB Spanish SL</p>
<p>As you can see, my days are incredibly lopsided, which makes my weeks complicated sometimes. However, some of my teachers do a good job getting us up and about. My biggest complaint is just that they don’t realize that not allowing any time to do work in class creates a huge problem later. Plus, I’m not even in a science this year, and most of my classmates are. An hour of homework or more from every class on “B” day plus my sport, plus yearbook coverage, plus my 15 hr/week job forces me to give up sleep. And I’m supposed to volunteer on top?
This year they tried to make it a little easier on the IB students by coordinating due dates so that they didn’t conflict, but to no real avail. This week, I have two IAs, two tests, and an essay due.</p>
<p>The real takeaway I have is that teachers are trying to make school more engaging, but failing to realize that we cannot be fully engaged if we are overworked or sleep-deprived.</p>