what is flex time in schoolwhat is flex time in school

On one day, the pre-calculus and Advanced Placement (AP) statistics teacher at Legacy High School in Bismarck, ND, might have small breaks from teaching throughout the day. In the workplace, flexible scheduling is a policy that allows an employee to change the start and finish times of her or his workday. We want it to be air tight before we put it out there for parents, she says. The concept is called flex time or W.I.N. If you have a Flex Period in your building and have seen benefits we dont list below, feel free to reach out and tell us, 1. The school's bell schedule operates on a six-day (A-F) cycle. 4) Improves Mental Health. Some of the best teachers instead realize that theyre now free to engage in some of the highest impact teaching in the form of individual check-ins and small group instruction. Academic Learning Time (ALT) is a measure of student learning that is defined as the amount of time a student spends engaged in an academic assignment that s/he is capable of performing with high performance. This means they no longer have to pull students from their classes for all of these events and give more time back for instruction to the students that need to participate in these other activities, but also means less interruptions for teachers and their entire class. 5 Tips for Earning an MEd While Still Teaching https://resilienteducator.com/curriculum-teaching-strategies/giving-students-time/. In an 80-minute period, he says, students can take more time with a lab, and he still has time to ask critical questions before kids walk out the door.. The variety throughout Kosteleckys week is the result of what the school calls personalized scheduling a system in which each day is broken down into 22 20-minute blocks, and teachers determine how to stack those blocks for their subject areas throughout the week. In Pottage and Sillerys research, they saw an increase in students agreeing that adults in this school care about me after a year of Flex Periods, which included the percent strongly agreeing with that increasing from 10% to 19.2%. As we give students more freedom, we want to trust them to make good decisions, but we also want to implement systems to keep them engaged and accountable. Students also have to learn how to manage their time differently. Let K-12 Dive's free newsletter keep you informed, straight from your inbox. effectively. AtRocky Mountain Middle Schoolin Idaho, flex time is an interventional time period for those who need it, while those achieving mastery can have a break from learning. Explore the Institute of Education Sciences, North Dakota Innovative Schools Partnership, struggling students did not use more flex-time for coursework in or out of the learning centers than other students did, Deputy Director for Administration and Policy. It allows employees to vary their arrival and/or departure times. Your email address will not be published. Some teachers like to have students write notes on paper to reinforce learning, even if the material is on a screen. In addition to enrichment time focused on academic topics from class, Flex Periods also open up opportunities for students to be involved in more extracurriculars as well, which are usually forced after school hours. They cant change the start and end times of the day because those are determined by bus schedules, and classes cant go down to 30 minutes. While this may not show up explicitly in a standardized test result, students build their ability to see the world as inter-connected, which we know it is. Easily Pre-Teach Topics to Boost Student Knowledge + Confidence, 6. Hastings High started their intervention period as an HR where students reported to the same teacher each day and could get passes to travel to teachers they need help from on assignments. Class sessions can take on a variety of shapes and sizes, including small-group study sessions. school year. While not a lot of research has been done on Flex Periods specifically, you can see the above reasons listed above echoed in, Hastings High started their intervention period as an HR where students reported to the same teacher each day and could get passes to travel to teachers they need help from on assignments. We atSilicon Schools Fund andRelay Graduate School of Education set out to understand what makes flex time periods work best and started with a deep dive studying and writing about the topic. In a student focus group, Waters heard two girls taking the same AP English class compare their lives after school. Welcome to Florida Virtual School. Flex time is a flexible period of time in a school schedule where students can get what they need, when they need it. Learn more about FLVS by watching a video overview or browse our school options by grade level. How Did The School Of Behaviorism Define Psychology? When students arent at grade level, students are retaught things they dont have mastery of yet with the goal of catching them up so they can spend less time receiving interventions. In the example below, no minutes were taken from lunch, but this can definitely be done, especially if you want to create a longer flex period. On explore days, there is a range of activities, some that stay constant and some that vary. A quarter of the schools students about 300 are enrolled in it. No matter what group of students youre looking at, Flex Periods give more opportunities for personalized learning to take place. To measure this, they asked students the degree to which they agreed with the statement I (Student) Find Balancing My School Workload and Personal Interests Manageable. At the beginning of the year, 46.8% of students agreed with this statement, whereas 77.8% did at the end of the year (an increase in 31%). Flex time offers students a chance to work on school assignments, meet with teachers to review content, or choose to attend enrichment offerings, according toUnlocking Time, a national project that empowers K-12 school leaders to adopt new time strategies that fuel student-centered learning. Schools have been focusing more and more on social-emotional learning (SEL) and support for students over the past years, but it rarely has a place in a traditional schedule and course load. If you dont have one yet, hopefully youre convinced of why theyre a best practice and that they could be a good fit for your school. On our survey, 89% of students agreed their Flex Period is important to them and 93% said theyd like their school to continue using their Flex Period next year, while 83.5% of students at a large high school in Pennsylvania felt their Flex Period was beneficial to them. Flex periods are implemented on a rotating basis. They will often rotate through every 2 to 3 weeks or so. The school uses Mike Mattos model where teachers track students by learning targets based on "power essentials." After all the benefits discussed so far, its not a leap to believe that students enjoy school more when they have Flex Periods. While they go by many names, like Intervention Blocks, Enrichment Periods, Tutorials Periods, Activity Period, Mascot Time, or even Advisory, schools find many reasons to implement them based on their own unique culture and goals. No matter what you prefer to call flex time in your school or how you fit it in, there are many benefits to having a Flex Period in your daily schedule. For each of the 7 planned courses, flex periods are additional (shorter) meeting times that are integrated into the bell schedule. Happy students are more likely to do well in school, pay attention, and show up (on time). Topics covered: K-12 policy, classroom technology, school systems, personalized learning, equity, and much more. Among the most common nationwide are Flex Period, Advisory Period, Mascot Time (e.g. Leaders are also looking to spur use of the academic centers by providing students more time was not exactly aligned with leaderships intentions. At this point, it might not be surprising that Pottage and Sillerys research also saw a decrease in anxiety among students after implementing a Flex Period, with a 6.4% drop in students feeling anxious about school after one year of implementing flex periods. On the first day the new model was in place at Legacy, they ended up with a hole in which the entire student body was out of class for 20 minutes. Most commonly students go to different teachers for additional academic support or spend their time in a more traditional study hall, but it is also common for students to attend enrichment sessions, meet with an advisor, make up class assignments for days missed, participate in club meetings, and take part in other extracurricular activities, like sports. We are hoping this schedule will make college less of an adjustment, Kostelecky says, because they already know how to manage their time when they leave high school., Get the free daily newsletter read by industry experts. Samohi Flex-Time provides targeted educational opportunities during the school day for intervention and enrichment to best meet student individual needs. How many times a week do teachers say, I wanted to do this, but we ran out of time? Flexible scheduling is defined as creative use of thetime in the school day in an attempt to match theinstructional time and format to the learning needs ofstudents. Sometimes, there are questions about how to use this time productively, while giving students the opportunity to [], I made a few promises to myself when I became an administrator: find opportunities to teach regularly, really listen to teachers to involve them heavily in the decision making process, and remember that education is a relationship business at its core. What are the main differences between FLVS Flex and FLVS. Many schools, she says, try to personalize learning or expand professional learning opportunities for teachers within existing master schedules, without realizing that there is wasted time within the current structure and staff members whose talents could be used in different ways to provide more targeted learning opportunities for students. Copyright 2021 Interval Technology Partners, LLC. Virtual classes can be taken as part of the school day, outside the school day and in the summer. The Challenges and Benefits of a Zero Period Class, Advantages of Flexible Learning, and Ways to Implement It. and life skills by providing them choice in the use of their time. A typical class will last two to three of these blocks, and it will include an additional block for teachers to work As more schools consider whether or not to start one or their own school, its important to be aware of the benefits they provide. Targeted academic support from teachers to assist in reinforcing or reteaching previously learnt material Meetings of clubs and activities. FTM is a school structure that provides a set amount of time each school day during which students have [] As students show more readiness for independence and small group work, educators have to do the hard step: letting go. The school uses. While there certainly could be some other factors at play, students having more time built into their schedule to get help or work on assignments when they need to, or even spending time with friends or in a quiet study hall for a break, has to be helpful for students balancing their work and personal interests. Teachers often focus on a single learning habit for a stretch of time until it is consistently demonstrated by students--such as note-taking, help-seeking, or studying. Your teaching is much more focused, he says. 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Because it's extremely adaptable and provides for a better work/life balance, a flextime schedule can actually improve mental health. On their application, applicants should indicate if they are interested in the Flex-Time option. (Solution found) . At Legacy High, Schmidt asked teachers to propose their ideal week, and in LISD, Pondant asked principals to poke holes in the various scenarios being considered. In these situations, usually students are divided up, often by grade level, and have access to only one of the two periods with only some of the teachers being available on each period. The schedule actually sets up a ton of things for instruction, she says. What Do We Need for Well-Being? A Student at Saint Anns Died by Suicide. On another, she is with students all morning. However, there are several different types of schedules that schools currently use. In most cases, teachers teach the same content to multiple groups of students throughout the day (for instance I taught 7th grade math to four different periods). In this article, well define what a Flex Period is, explain why they're important, and provide 4 examples of how schools utilize flex time in their buildings. For example, an English and government teacher will take the same two periods that they were using before, co-teach for one of them, and spend the second supporting students as they work in independent learning time. Meanwhile, the students are still getting credit for both courses. Students entering the new and uncharted territory of Middle School are often faced with challenges daily. Schedule 7 - 1 Flex, 6 Classes, + 2 Lunch (Block Schedule) In this example from a school in Utah, they run a block schedule Monday through Thursday with a full slate of classes on Friday. And the first step in creating flex time is creating the classroom culture. Flex Periods are becoming commonplace in middle and high schools across the country to help them provide more opportunities for their students. Flex time gives teachers time to really dive into content or skills-learning. Through this new structure, the school has transformed its intervention period to support their students in ways that were much more challenging before, especially tier 2 type interventions. 2023 Editorial Projects in Education, Inc. Schools may employ Flex Time Hour to provide on-campus virtual learning opportunities, electives, tutorials, community meetings, career exploration, and other alternatives that students can choose from at their discretion. Additionally, less interruptions happening in classes help students stay in class when they are in the building and prohibit them from getting behind, making them more invested in being there and on track with everyone else. The principal believes its made a big difference and is happy to see that their scores on their state report card reflect this as well. Its a constant dance of differentiation that every teacher tries on a daily basis. Flex time, short for flexible time, allows you to adjust your work hours to fit your own preferences or needs instead of adhering to a traditional fixed pattern. This allows both parties to have more intentional actions and build relationships more organically than during their scheduled time each day. The teacher who is especially strong on a particular topic can lead the class, and students, Schmidt says, get practice in learning how to ask a question in a large group. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, the school has tutorial-related time called Power Hour where teachers hold sessions open for general help or focused on specific topics for targeted groups during these 30-minute blocks. While there has been limited research on their impact on their own, weve created a list of benefits based on. A flex period is an allotted period of time during the school day that teachers use to meet with one or more students. They also found that 63% of teachers agree with the statement I Believe That Flex Has Given Me the Opportunity to Build More Connections With Students. This is likely because instead of more traditional models where students go to a homeroom or advisory on a regular basis to discuss topics, in a Flex Period students and teachers see each other when they have a need and/or chose to. School just simply needs to look different, says Assistant Principal Shari Waters. A Flex Time Amount is a predetermined period of time in the daily schedule (typically between 20 and 45 minutes) during which students can visit a different location each day (as opposed to always going to math for their first period, for instance). One teacher from a Pennsylvania high school shared that they find [their flex period] to be invaluable time and appreciate not having to try and schedule after school time with the kids who are struggling because they often "forget" to come., With more opportunities during the school day for intervention, enrichment, and extracurriculars, its likely no surprise that student achievement is among the most cited, and most important, benefits of Flex Periods. Let's dig in, and talk a little bit first about block scheduling. Students whose grades show that they have gained mastery will go to an activity of their choice for that 30-minute block of time. Examples of activities include basketball in the gym, a movie in the auditorium, social time in the cafeteria, games and studying in the library, computer games in the computer lab, different sports activities outside (weather permitting), etc. She is a curriculum designer and public high school educator in New York City. Once the norms and procedures for a tight classroom are in place and once positive relationships fuel the culture, teachers have the necessary ingredients to enable the coaching, feedback, and peer-to-peer collaboration that is necessary to move toward a more student-directed approach. A Flex Time Amount is a predetermined period of time in the daily schedule (typically between 20 and 45 minutes) during which students can visit a different location each day (as opposed to always going to math for their first period, for instance). One teacher operating in isolation thats the beast that eats kids and eats teachers, she says. A flex block is a flexible time period set aside in the school day that gives students time for extra help or enrichment opportunities. If you already have one, hopefully this list has given you some additional ideas for benefits to look for or leverage in achieving your goals. Using a flex model, every community can afford to have a great high school. Students may take more classes because of the schedule flexibility, and they get more one-on-one time with professors as a result. So they fixed that, and now students follow their own schedules throughout the day without bells to tell them when to move. It really forced us to look at our staff in a different way, Pondant says, adding that the design has become a recruitment tool. their studies than standard approaches to learning (Pane, Steiner, Baird, & Hamilton, 2015), Legacy High School provides students and teachers At Legacy High, Kostelecky says teachers need to learn to plan for a week, not the next day. (3) Unless there are any homework assignments, the instructor of record is on-site, and students spend the majority of their time on the brick-and-mortar campus where they study. That was the overarching question educators at Legacy High School (LHS) In the past, for example, the only time to get one-on-one time with a teacher for extra tutoring was before or after school options that werent realistic for students who ride the bus to school. School and district leaders say brainstorming sessions are necessary before breaking away from old models. Melanie Pondant, the director of secondary curriculum for the Longview Independent School District (LISD), about 130 miles east of Dallas, didnt believe what Crawford was describing was possible. One in a traditional seven-period day talked about having two to three hours of homework every night, while the other said she now has much more free time. Why consider adding it to your schedule, how can you do so, and why does it matter? LHS Principal Thomas Schmidt noted the value of the results in helping school and district leaders refine their instructional strategy. Students can receive extra help thats tailored for them, or challenge opportunities they wouldnt otherwise get in the traditional classroom. Decreased productivity. This content is provided by our sponsor. Next year, the district plans to spread the model to its third middle school and all seven elementary schools, and the plan is to phase in a college-like schedule at the high school. The greater the number of ALT points a student earns, the more the learner is learning. In successful schools, we observed students exhibiting agency and working quite independently, which raised the question, how did these classes reach this place of success? School leaders and educators suggested that it worked best to begin with more teacher-directed systems and structures and then gradually transfer responsibilities onto students as they demonstrated readiness. AtAragon High School in San Mateo, California, flex time is truly student-driven. The big shift is that the systems, structures, and routines that start out teacher-driven can gradually fade into the background as students become more autonomous. Not only does class continue moving on schedule, but teachers and struggling students arent forced to find time before or after school to get the time they need. Some Flex Days are used for personalized planning throughout the year. A flex block is a flexible time period set aside in the school day that gives students time for extra help or enrichment opportunities, according toEnriching Students, a web-based scheduling tool for high/middle school RTI, enrichment, and personalized learning. Students can study subjects and activities that interest them in addition to helping them catch up or achieve competency requirements with this method. Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Flexible working allows employees to start and finish their shifts at various times, as long as they fulfil their contractual weekly hours. First, if youre looking to start a Flex Period in your building, its helpful to know them so you can decide if theyre right for your school and influence how you decide to set them up, assuming they are a good fit. This is a win-win for the teacher and all students, whether they were struggling or not on any given topic. Part-time students are registered and attending classes at a local, brick and mortar school and are taking one or more classes with BVS. And while students enjoying school might not always be something thats top of the list of priorities, it likely doesnt hurt no matter what your goals and priorities are. Students and teachers can both request to see each other during this time, so students are encouraged to pick at least one session each day (as opposed to having two lunches). They didnt think the time was accomplishing these goals in the ways they wanted and looked to build a new system. With the system in place and implemented, And last, but not least, teachers also believe they benefit students, Pottage and Sillerys research finding that 78.2% of the teachers believed that Flex Periods benefited and supported students after just one year of implementing the schedule. Schultz: We offer more than 190 free courses to students in grades K-12 in FLVS Flex and Full-time schools. Unlike traditional learning models, the Flex model does not need pupils to switch between learning modes at the same time. My goal is to have my classes at the same area of instruction by the end of the week, but each class will be slightly different throughout the week due to differing amounts of time each class has on a given day, she says. What Does FLEX Time Look Like in a Middle School Schedule? In a flexible learning environment, teachers more easily calibrate their language, and students make overt connections between subject area content and skills. While there has been limited research on their impact on their own, weve created a list of benefits based on research by Stephen A. Pottage & Sheila M. Sillery from the Gordon Albright School of Education in Seattle and our firsthand experience in schools, including a survey of school leaders, teachers, and students. Instead, it is their intention that students who struggle academically would use more of that time for coursework and to take advantage of the services The school support structures begin in the foreground and gradually fade into the background. Social-emotional learning activities with instructors and peers that are centered on general wellbeing and connection are recommended. Parents have expressed that they especially love the change to include clubs during the day. "Flex" days were built into the weekly schedule, in which teachers in one content area meet together for a day of planning . The teacher, however, still explicitly develops classroom culture and trusting relationships with whole class, small group, and individual activities. If you dont have one yet, hopefully youre convinced of why theyre a best practice and that they could be a good fit for your school. Researchers from the RAND Corporation, who have been following the Next Generation Learning Challenges (NGLC)'s Breakthrough School Models initiative, also recommended giving schools more autonomy to adapt their schedules. Teachers can assign students to intervention or review work if needed; otherwise, students can choose an enrichment class to attend, complete homework, or work on class projectsWhile the format might vary from school to school, the purpose remains the same: to give students a chance to follow their own interests and manage their own learning time..