Lessons lasting 60 minutes or more in a high school create a new set of conditions for the teacher and students in your class.

It is important to understand the problems and change the ways to overcome them and make use of the advantages that the longer lesson period brings to the teacher.

These issues discussed below stem from my own classroom experience when my school switched from six 40-minute periods per day to four 70-minute periods per day. It also reflects the experience of the staff in my department.

The problems are in no particular order of importance, but I thought it was important to raise them.

1. It is hard work for teachers and students. It is impossible for most students and teachers to focus effectively on one topic for long periods, such as an hour. There should be short breaks or changes in what you are doing to keep the interest and focus of both students and teachers.

2. Your available teaching time should become “SACRED”. Don’t let anyone have it without a fight, not even the administration. Longer periods mean fewer periods. Therefore, a missed period becomes a significant percentage of your instructional time in any instructional week.

3. Must have a study / homework strategy for students. As you will see the class less often, you will need to suggest when they do homework and when they study, for example, do homework tonight to keep learning fresh and quickly reinforce or do it the night before the next lesson to keep it fresh. in the minds of the students.

4. Lack of continuity. This occurs when students are absent simply because they miss a large percentage of their learning time, making it difficult to catch up on missed work. Also, for students who are present in class, there may be up to four days between successive lessons.

5. The work ethic is difficult to develop. Points 2-4 above support this point.

6. Strategy for absent students. It is important to ensure that absent students are not left behind. What I did was keep a detailed account of what I accomplished in each lesson in my journal. I made sure to save the brochures for the absent students. I wrote the names of all absent students on any handout ready to hand out to the absent at their next lesson. With the longer period, I was able to spend a little time with them to update them.

7. Strategy for absent teachers. With the longer lessons, the absence of a teacher had a greater impact on the class. Therefore, it is important to plan an effective lesson to cover that absence.

8. Detailed planning and full use of time is essential. It is easy to “waste” time. Plan some extra, short activities for any unexpected free time that comes with a lesson, such as a quiz or problem-solving activity.

9. Group planning will be essential. If you are part of a team of teachers assigned to the same grade level and / or subject, team teaching could ease the burden of long lessons and add variety to help keep students interested and focused. Students enjoy a teacher change from time to time.

10. I always seemed to rush to cover the course when the long lessons were first introduced. That is why you need to carefully plan how to use each minute of the long period. What I did was plan to complete the work program for the quarter or semester at least one week before any planned assessment.

11. You need to divide your lessons into short segments to survive. Each segment allows you and your students a break and the opportunity to “recharge your batteries and theirs.” Have a basic structure for each lesson. Your students should know this structure. Post it on your board for each lesson.

12. Teach skills first. Good basics increase the chances that a student will be successful in all areas of their course, especially the more challenging areas of problem solving and critical thinking.

13. Student mentors. Encourage older students to form study groups of four or five to work together outside of school. In class, use your gifted students to explain ideas to the class as a whole or to individual students. This is good for your personal development. Students often learn a lot from their classmates as they tend to “speak the same language.”

14. There is time to teach students skills that take a long time to develop, eg, developing a logical decision-making process, experimental procedures in Science, developing an argument in History.

15. You can teach an entire topic in one lesson and use subsequent lessons to consolidate. You can give an overview initially, showing where the topic is heading.

16. Students need to be more responsible for their learning, homework, study, and exam technique. Teach these skills in class in short bursts over time. Review these skills as often as possible to reinforce and develop them.

17. Learn to work smart: use all available tools or ideas, eg multiple intelligences, listening skills, variety of teaching strategies.

18. Help students learn to think, write, and speak using the language and terminology of their disciplines. Take short subject vocabulary quizzes / tests to improve these skills and add another segment to your long lessons.