Don't mess with this piece of real estate

Truman leaves a voting booth
the day of the 1948 elections.

Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear.
--Harry S Truman, August 8, 1950

The 33rd President of the United States also said that the voting booth is the most valuable piece of real estate in the nation, and that if it is sold then likely the nation will cease to exist.

It is unfortunate that underhanded events have happened in several of the nation's campaigns over time. Even if it yielded a win for the perpetrators, the behavior of an administration during a term would demonstrate whether they would win a subsequent election.

For most parts of the nation this has been the safety net, because the citizens and politicians have given the voting booth, the polling place and the a ballot box a near sacred status.

Throughout history candidates have simply encouraged people to vote, even without telling followers to vote specifically for them, knowing that the secret ballot with one vote per person has been the single most important right of a US citizen. In many ways it is what defines a US citizen as different from being a member of any other country.

During the 2000 national elections questions arose over which candidate won. As it turned out, even the side that won admits that the number of popular votes went to the opposition. But from the supreme court, wherein no one in the majority decision would put their name to a majority opinion, came a faceless decision in a 5 to 4 vote. (The dissenters, however had no fear of writing an opinion.)

While we have questioned the Electoral College many times as the process for deciding presidential elections during the past couple centuries, in 2000 we accepted the results of the vote as a matter of faith. This faith was held with the assumption and assumed knowledge that in four years we'd have another chance to cast our ballots.

We knew that in four years, as in every other election cycle, that if there were problems or if there was an opportunity to change the management of this nation for the better, we the electorate would be able to cast our ballots as we always have and know that the wisdom of a majority would be respected as each ballot would be given equal weight, equal importance and respected as a revered right.

In this nation we don't tamper with the US Mail, because it is a "Federal Offence" an important common knowledge that is a combination of mutual respect and security. Similarly, there is not a preponderance of counterfeiting of currency - even though today's design and printing technology would make attempts much easier.

So it has been with voting and the ballot box. Neighbors have respected each other when they knew a difference in political leanings, and if they wished to keep that difference confidential it was another form of mutual respect maintained by the voting booth and the secret ballot.

As this country has grown, history has corrected election improprieties in various regions. In most areas they serve as reminders that systems in this democracy work.

Following the flame of principle established by the nation's founding documents state, "...all men are created equal," the Voting Rights Act of 1965 with its subsequent revisions recognized that the last single descriptor of being a citizen -- the thing that makes one whole, to make all citizens whole -- was the unalienable right to vote without being impeded and with no differentiating qualification.

It was as if to say, "even if we can't help everyone's economic plight, even if we can't correct all social injustice, even if opportunities are not always equal, the single most important thing we can do is assure the right to vote to all, and protect that right by making the result of the plebiscite elective self expression so important that it is untouchable, and to do otherwise unthinkable."

I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. . . . Corporations have been enthroned, an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money-power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until the wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed
------Abraham Lincoln

With days remaining before the next election, verified reports are emerging of tampering with voter registrations, ballots, the disposition of absentee ballots and challenging individual electors using or manufacturing false information about them.

THIS IS NOT A PARTISAN RANT! These are actions that should be abhorred equally by both sides, for the devaluation of one vote diminishes the rights of all, and threatens subsequent elections. While it is becoming apparent that one side is perpetrating these acts against fellow citizens, one would think the questions that arose over the last election would have current leaders being extra diligent at avoiding even the appearance of impropriety.

With current actions showing a blatant disregard for the rights of fellow American citizens, the basic principles of logic confirm the likelihood that the discrepancies in question during the last election were purposely executed. Now we have come to believe that all find the act of voting, and the handling of ballots as near sacred, while those who don't are taking advantage and manipulating the outcome.

Here are some examples:

- With voting underway in Florida, eyes turn that way as a list of felons developed to disallow voters was not being released. During the 2000 election, a similar list was developed and included thousands of names of people who had no prison or police record, preventing those named on the list from their right to vote.


Click: The Herald Tribune



- A campaign headquarters document in Florida outlines a plan to disrupt voting in certain districts.

Click: BBC News: Florida vote scandal feared



- Not all concerns are taking place in the south. In an effort to limit the number of newly registered voters from actually casting ballots, Milwaukee County official refused to print the estimated 260,000 ballots requested by city officials.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

- This initial glitch was resolved after the Mayor, the Governor and the attorney general joined the debate, and Milwaukee County will now print the extra ballots required.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The latest hassle facing voters in the area include absentee ballots which come with a stamped self addressed envelope. But by accident one of the remote voters had the post office check to see if there was enough postage. Most voters will assume that the 37 cent stamp supplied is adequate to get their vote to their home polls. After checking, it turns out the return ballot need additional postage to bring the amount up to 60 cents for the USPS to deliver the ballot to where they can be counted.

-Journal Sentinel - Wrong postage is latest absentee ballot concern

- In Nevada, an organization promoted registration of voters, but subsequently discarded all the registrations affiliated with one of the parties keeping people who thought they had registered from being allowed to vote.

Constitution Center

- Back to Florida, where today, 58,000 absentee ballots were misplaced in transit to Tallahassee

Local Channel 10

- And Ohio has started with a variety of voter concerns, perpetuated by officials who are to serve all of the electorate.

Columbus Free Press

- Along with blatant devaluation of ballots, redistricting and simple but purposed changing of voting locations, votes are being accepted and denied randomly along with provisional ballots that allow people to be pacified but confused until the judiciary in one sweep destroys all pertinent ballots (as they have done in several areas) rendering thousands of ballots invalid, and sweeping away the common thread that makes all of those individuals citizens.

AP - The wrong polling place

And there are more being reported daily.

Although these reports deal predominantly with the workings of one political party over another, voters in both parties should be concerned. The parties ostensibly could be reversed, but it appears that the 2000 election behavior was just a rehearsal for more nefarious dealings by the current administration's party election worker's in 2004.

But everyone, no matter what their affiliation should be infuriated by those who would use a single ill-gotten vote to their advantage, let alone hundreds of thousands.

With friends in both political parties, I know no one who in good conscience would condone such behavior. Members of both parties whom I know believe in decency and a sense of fair play. They know and believe that even if they disagree with the opposition's plans that their vote is just as important as everyone else's, and respect an honestly represented true majority. They also know that after an interval of time they will have the opportunity again to cast votes in a scenario that celebrates the differences, debate, discourse and trusts

They understand that the ballot box and the voting booth is one of the freedoms that people through our nation's history have fought, sacrificed and died for, insuring that this little experiment in self government succeeds to be enhanced by the next generation.

Until recently we looked with some condescension on other countries that required independent international observers in order to insure a fair election. When watching reports about those countries, we thought of ourselves as being beyond that with systems that worked and a society that was civil and conducted fair elections. But now it would be as if we were looking in a mirror.

Best to all,

Lloyd
.

When a student learns it can be like...sailing

File photo: Lloyd

There have been many opportunities to act as a teacher over the years. As a music/theatre major I later took on private students who were studying/playing 'cello and a few voice students. While several were a bit of a struggle - and the struggle was theirs - many were successes and they were kind enough to share their success; a source of great thrill for most teachers making up for the energies expended on the struggles.

Most recently I had the opportunity to be a teacher in an interesting environment. The story below could be called "What I did on my Summer Vacation." But it is more about how everyone gains when skills and knowledge are shared.

The majority of the summer of 2004 was filled with one of two activities.

First, I have to say that I was in the weird position of having to take vacation from my regular work in order to finish contract work on a couple of specific projects. Read that again: I had to take vacation time in order to get my work done. A situation that could have have been depressing if it weren't for my other distraction, sailing.

Saying farewell to sailing early in my marriage was an easy tradeoff considering the number of things my sweetheart has put up with over the past three decades. But the urge to harness the wind and slide across the water returned in earnest a few years ago.

It all came down to the fact that my wife was not a water person, and instead of it being a source of sporting stimulation, water activities were a source of terror. Of course, if I'd known that, I'd likely have made her first sailing experience all those years back, a little less exciting.

A series of guilt-laden ploys over a period of time a few years back finally yielded the "thumbs up" on acquiring a sailing vessel, and returning to the life on water that I had left when Gerald Ford was president.

Not wanting to push the issue, I pursued a clunky looking boat that looked safe with an appearance that likely put its designer to sleep. Shortly after starting the hunt, I came home from a Chicago area marina with a 22 foot South Coast cruiser that had been pulled out of its slip in Lake Michigan. It fit the formula perfectly, a clunky looking sloop on which everything was present and intact, with a hull color that screamed 1971 as if the Brady Bunch itself was expected to swim across her bow. With the vessel a study in irony, it seemed only appropriate to Christen her "Pinafore" after the Gilbert and Sullivan comic operetta featuring a ship of the same name with a crew whose exploits should never be taken seriously.

In an effort to be concise I take license to time-travel to early spring 2004 when the stars aligned and a good friend made some contacts so Pinafore could be parked in Rock Lake near Lake Mills, affording me the opportunity to hit the water and hoist the sails within ten minutes after leaving my home.

But another opportunity presented itself with the boat's close proximity. My wife, one of my children (at first) and two of my friends showed a special interest in learning to sail, giving me the delightful challenge and opportunity of teaching them how to safely sail, show them some of the nuances and introduce those four to the enticements of sail. A built-in plus included the odds that shortly I'd have a crew member at any given time to help out when winds became brisk and efforts to 'single hand' Pinafore required that I be in more than one place on the boat simultaneously.

Just like students learning a new musical instrument, talents developed at varying speeds.

But one of the crew trainees displayed a particular enthusiasm, and became a part of the Pinafore crew almost by accident. On our way back from a shoot, a person whom I often hire to assist with freelance commercial photo work was with me at the end of the day when I mentioned that the boat was tied off not far from the route home. She insisted that she wanted to see the old cruiser. It never takes much arm twisting to get me to talk sailing.

I kept playing down the dated watercraft, but even after seeing the 'retro' cruiser she continued to ask substantial questions about the old boat and things nautical in general. Enthusiasm at this level is hard to surpress, so I offered to take the boat out and motor about for a short excursion.

Well we didn't even hoist the sails that trip and the good questions kept coming, so much so that I finally said, "Here, you take the helm," explaining that as the term for position of the person who steers the vessel - also giving her something to do before I ran out of answers. I mentioned that I would be training members as crew and that she (for the purposes of this blog she'll be known as CR as she often is in real life) was invited to join the group. I noted that the group was going to meet a in a few days and that she should plan on coming out, but I also mentioned that it wasn't just a matter of going out, setting sails and catching 'rays.' It was a matter of learning many safety aspects to protect the boat and other crew, it was a matter of learning terminology, rules, regulations, history, theory. It was also a matter of learning about the weather, learning the characteristics of this specific water craft. And finally a matter of having all the mechanical factors of harnessing the wind and getting the craft where you wanted to go become a natural series of readings and reactions.

While we planned to meet as a group a few days later, CR called the next day and said she had a conflict. Thinking that her apparent enthusiasm had waned, I said that she was certainly not obligated in any way. But she stopped me short and asked if the boat would be going out anytime before the group was to meet. Well, of course it was - that afterall is why I had the boat in water so close to home.

So we met the next day after I made the return trip from Chicago, having met with a client in the morning. Like air filling sails, sailing itself always gives me a second wind of energy. We spent some time at the pier where I explained the difference between standing rigging and running rigging. We talked over which lines did what, what needed to be accomplished while getting under way and generally what made a sailing craft...go.

As a little quiz, I asked if she could remember some of the specific parts of the boat. She did, and continued on impressively and correctly with more terms after I finished the little quiz. CR was like a horse at the starting gate, and I recognized that it was time as a teacher to get out of this student's way.

We motored out beyond keel depth, and as I was getting ready to hobble up on deck to hoist the sails she passed me up and asked if she could yank the halyards to raise the two expanses of Dacron (the canvas of today). I sat back down at the tiller and said, "hoist away." A brisk day gusting to 15 knots I stayed at the helm, but pointed out all of the factors to consider at every point of sail, giving assurance that cruisers this size with 700 to 1000 pounds of steel or lead in its keel are extremely difficult to capsize, even though the wind made the Pinafore heel over to near 20 degrees during the course of the session. While 20 degrees isn't much off of perpendicular, with racing yachts spending a brisk day at 30+/- degrees to the point where skipper and crew are basically leaning on the deck while standing on its edge, even 20 degrees can seem like more when a green sailor is along and the skipper seems to be daring Mother Nature to incline your craft much more.

After about two hours, I turned the boat in toward our pier to the dismay of the new student. Again CR volunteered to douse the sails. After explaining the procedure she litely jumped to the top of the cabin trunk as if she had a set of natural sea legs, where my hiking on deck in brisk weather has been characterized as more of a "lumbering" action. I turned Pinafore upwind and both the jib and mainsail began to luff. As the boat bit into the oncoming chops, CR cut loose the jib halyard and stood solidly on the foredeck as she gathered up the foresail. Returning to the mast she set the main halyard loose, I let go of the tiller and began to to flake and lash the mainsail. CR started lashing it from the other end. "Are you sure you haven't been sailing before?" I asked. She assured me that her life until then was one of a full blown land lubber.

The summer continued with planned trips including the group and various sub-sets, but regularly CR would have arranged her own schedule to get some extra time under sail. She remained enthusiastic, but it seemed that with everything she absorbed in the learning process, she also gained a greater respect for the sport. After several trips out as a crew member it became obvious that it was time for her to act as skipper and take the helm, and let me be the crew, telling me what adjustments out of her reach need to be made.

Suggesting it was a good time for her to take the tiller and take the boat through its paces with me as the crew, CR hesitated. She paused, and said she really should just continue as a crew member. With that, under full sail, I stood up and headed to the cabin, hinting that someone should take the tiller (at that time CR didn't know that sails sheeted tightly will generally pull the vessel around into the weather, bring the boat to a stop and drop the air out of the sail to the point where they'll simply flap around). She veritably dove for the tiller and brought Pinafore back on course, frantically asking what I was thinking. To which I answered "I think it is time you took the helm."

Again it is an exciting moment when a teacher gets the opportunity to get out of a student's way, and it was clear that this student was ready to move on faster than the rest of the crew trainees.

CR stiffly took the boat through several maneuvers and points of sail, before I suggested we head in.

After that CR would take the helm regularly under varying sorts of weather, learning to adjust to get the optimum set on the sails. At first it was a matter of adjusting after conditions changed blatantly, but the adjustment to any settings were always correct. Many sailors never get beyond this point.

Just as every student who is learning a new language works at it until "things just click," sailing fell into place for CR.

The difference between inland sailing and off shore ocean sailing is the quality and consistency of the wind. Most often in blue water sailing, the wind stays the same, is rarely gusty and usually changes at a pace that allows sailors to adjust as the changes are happening. I like to call off-shore mariners set-and-forget sailors. Inland wind is subject to more change due to winds coming off of land formations, a range of varying other factors and generally one accepts that there will be gusts, even at points 30 miles off-shore on Lake Michigan.

One day we were out after CR had become quite used to the routine and was familiar with almost all activities on the boat. So much so that I began to wonder if learning had hit a plateau, or if I had any more to offer this student.

The weather that day called for 7 to 10 knot winds, but predicted mid afternoon an increase of winds that would be 10 to 15 knots. On a comfortable set of tacks against a southwest wind we were heading across the narrowest point of the lake, an area notorious for providing conditions almost opposite the day's prevailing winds. I went into the cabin to grab binoculars, then stood up in the companion way, which allowed me to lean on the cabin roof and keep my head under the boom.

Going from a port tack to a starboard tack, I aimlessly looked through the glass. More than a mile away, on a cloudless day I could see that the water was turning dark, and the ink-like hue was advancing to our location rapidly. Immediately I knew that the dark shade was riffling on the current waves, taking away their glimmer and that the predicted wind change was coming across with a substantial introductory gust. I looked back at CR who was studying the set in the sails, and then bit my lip in an effort to not be too directive and continue to let the learning experiences happen. I did, however, work at being nonchalant and started ever so slightly to lean windward.

I took one more glance over my right shoulder, then let it go, looking toward the bow. About ten seconds later the wind picked up whistling through the shrouds. I prepared to jump through the hatch and cut loose a jib sheet, but knew that the old cruiser could heel beyond 90 degrees before thinking about capsizing, so I decided the best thing a teacher could do was nothing but wait.

Bracing myself as the wind hit, I felt Pinafore nudge slightly, but then settle into an increased speed. I relaxed as the boat locked into a comfortable beat, and we sailed on to the south end of the lake.

After we came about I stepped back out into the cockpit and sat on the weather side. After sitting and simply enjoying the sail for another ten minutes, I looked back at CR and said "Uh, did you notice the wind pick up before you came about?" She replied with a glib "Uh-huh."

I mentioned that we didn't really heel over too much. She replied, "Well I just flattened the main, and headed up wind a bit, then reclaimed the course as I let out the main sheet."

" And you did it well," I replied.

It occurred to me then that, like one who is learning a new language, things had 'clicked' for this student. I also realized that the role of a teacher is always changing. Sometimes it is a matter of literally spelling out every action, and sometimes it is just a matter of turning on a light so a student can see the path. The most difficult thing is recognizing which degree of need, so that a student is neither overwhelmed nor held back when ready to move on. But when a student finds success and feels accomplishiment, as a teacher I feel the thrill of a skydiver.

The training provided to new crew has been like a rank system that yacht trainers use on their way to a level of maritime certification. The next step for CR was to 'single hand' or solo sail, and she absolutely had the skills. However, like the first time she took the helm, I had to practically trick her into the solo sail. Every time I mentioned that it would be a good day for a solo run, she decided that her schedule was full, though I could hear that she wanted to be on the water under sail.

One day, I suggested we go out, and with the wind level up we'd likely have to 'reef' in the main (bring in some sail to have a smaller surface area), and I would need a decent crew to go out. After heading out I came around and brought the Pinafore in to a public pier. We were on approach before she asked why. Grabbing a cleat on the pier and stepping off the gun'l I threw a camera around my neck and turned back to tell her why... "...so you can solo."

She grabbed the pier and protested. "Lloyd, I'm not ready for this!"

I gently said that I thought she was.

"No, I'm really not. Now come on back. I'm not ready to solo."

Her hand slipped from the pier for a moment, and I took advantage of it by shoving Pinafore off. "Prove to me that you're not ready!," I said adding that it was near sunset and the weather was changing.

Shortly, the old cruiser was more than its own length beyond the pier. CR gave me a resigned look and asked what the assigned route was. I told her to head out on a certain heading south, bring it to the east on a broad reach go to within a safe distance of the east shoreline and come about to tack out the same distance to the south, then cut back west -southwest beating close to the wind then head west across the point of the pier, continue on then jybe north back to a point even with the pier and bring it on in.

I saw waypoints click in her head as if I were a choreographer dishing out steps to a dancer. She yanked the starter on the long shaft outboard, snapped it into reverse, pulled the stern around, changed gears again and headed out. It was the first time I had been this directive with this student.

The list of tasks to remember can be exceptional: After motoring out, killing the motor, lifting the motor, CR winches down the keel (a 700 lb five foot fin of steel on 2 tons of boat) , she hoists the sails, goes through the route making all the correct adjustments, then douses the sails, lashes the main, winches up the keel and motors back. She also made a correct decision in leaving the main reefed (note the main is almost the same size as the working jib), then she qeued up in a holding pattern with a boat that unexpectedly arrived to be hauled out. Then she brought Pinafore back to the pier.

She was elated and I was proud as punch. She also admitted that she was stalling about doing the solo over a period of weeks.

We were losing daylight, so shutter speeds on my camera were slow making it hard to hold steady, but if you click on the picture below, you will see CR on her solo sail. Clicking on the picture, you will be taken to another page. Click that new picture and you will see a 20 second compressed slide show of the 25 minute solo sail. Realize that it symbolizes a student success, a demonstration of determination to take on something completely new and the culmination of an effort to acquire new skills, pounding the individual skills into a complete talent.




Solo sail for a former land lubber - click here then click on pic
at that site.

While acting as the teacher in this situation, as usual I'm sure I am the one who learned and gained the most.

Best to all,

Lloyd

Block Schedule: Will it crumble?

 

This blog spends a lot of it's time on school matters.  This happens for many reasons including the fact that there is a lot going on within the district, a learning environment is an exciting and interesting environment, and the energy of youth is generally contagious.

There are so many good things that can and do happen in public schools that one can feel the need to give change a little scrutiny, yet one of the exciting things that occur in schools IS change.  But change can be an exciting trial for the future, and often times change takes a fork in the road under the guise of advancement which is in reality a step backward.

This blog has already gone on record commenting on returning to the use of bells to signal class changes, and sees it as a step backwards.  There has since been another blog (see "Echoing bells") citing information about schools that don't use bells between classes, just as a reference point.  It isn't as impassioned as the original bell blog "Hells, Bells".

But this time our interest lies with what may have enabled Johnson Creek schools to dispense with bells in the first place - block scheduling.  That alone is a good reason to use block scheduling, a system set up to have fewer longer classes (typically four) per day and have the same classes daily for at least a semester.

On the upside of block scheduling, longer projects can be completed in science classes, shop classes, math classes... lets face it in all subject areas.  Generally schools appear more relaxed, classes are closer to the length of classes in post-secondary institutions AND they likely counter the short attention span fostered years earlier by the likes of Sesame Street.

Education World has a tendency to agree with the latter.  They say

When students attend as many as eight relatively short classes in different subjects every day, instruction can become fragmented; longer class periods give students more time to think and engage in active learning.

A schedule with one relatively short period after another can create a hectic, assembly-line environment;

A schedule that releases hundreds or thousands of adolescents into hallways six, seven, or eight times each school day for four or five minutes of noise and chaotic movement can exacerbate discipline problems.

Teachers benefit from more useable instructional time each day because less time is lost with beginning and ending classes.

I give block scheduling several 'charm factors' for providing an environment conducive to learning AND teaching,  but there are admittedly times when charm factors aren't worth the paper they're written on, just as many educational mandates make requirements in programs without taking into consideration funding or practicality, or space, or equipment, or...!?!

During the course of a four year experience in high school, students still attend sequentially difficult classes in a variety of subject matter.  With block scheduling, it is possible that a freshman taking an advanced math class requiring a prerequisite may take the prerequisite one fall semester, but due to a schedule only allowing four class periods per day over a semester,  the advance math class may not be available until that student's junior year.  A similar scenario can play out in foreign language classes, with an introductory class one semester, but the school or the student schedule not allowing high level coursework in that language until more than a year later - making it potentially difficult to retain information from the first class.

It is difficult for humans and computers alike to schedule students satisfactorily under these situations.

The initial reaction is to return to the eight period day, which is in effect suggesting that block scheduling was just a fad, and that may be the case.  However, it is up to administrators and boards to determine what characteristics in curriculum development are more important, a solid learning environment conducive to learning or a schedule and curriculum tantamount to a checklist so that we can report, "yep, we touched on this subject, this subject, this subject and this subject..." without a chance to savor or go into depth at any one point.

How many of us grown-up type people actually do eight different things in a day?  All of us are busy, and while I am writing and doing research  for this blog and have written two other articles on separate subjects today, it often comes down to listening, reading, taking notes and writing.  Different topics, but the same work.  Yes, I may run to the grocery store, and have the tires rotated on my car, but adding those two things to the one thing I do ends up sounding like an incredibly busy day.

I think the "out-of-school" equivalent of an eight period day could go something like:

1. Go to work where you bake muffins and plan a menu before your boss has you

2.Go to your church or synagogue and translate a few pages of scripture from original languages prior to

3.Running to a lumber yard to finish blueprints that you picked up from the building inspector after proving geometrically that the structure is sound according to the codes and principles of engineering which needed to be done before you.

4. Write a legal brief using historical context with proven research sources and then it is time when the company requires the arts so you

5 Haul your instrument to the local chamber music society to practice with an ensemble for the inter-corporate competition, after which you play

6 Play a mandatory game of dodgeball to test a new product - but your job description says it's your day to

7. Collect water samples from bodies of water to check for contaminants and record that day's weather observations, but before that you are expected at the company conference room to

8 Solve some advanced algebraic equations just because they are there, and everybody else does. 

At that point you just can't wait to go home and zone out mindlessly in front of the television...

Granted most of us grew up with an eight hour set of classes, but one begins to wonder if the increased incidence of ADD/ADHD is not induced when requiring some to approach new concepts and consider the meaning of a Shakespeare play during a portion of one hour, then switch to plotting solutions to problems in multidimensional differential Calculus (which isn't related to anything tangible) during a portion of the next hour.

It is a tough choice, because schools are charged with providing so many hours of core curricular classes in a sequentially advancing curriculum.  BUT there is nothing in Wisconsin State Laws that say students MUST learn anything.  It requires an amount of school time to be offered or attended and curricular areas to be approached.  Individual districts decide on what constitutes a credit, and how many credits are required to graduate.  (Current standardized basic knowledge tests aren't intended to test students, but to evaluate schools and attach that to public funding, BUT that is a subject for another blog.)

So it isn't a clear choice, block scheduling offers many optimum learning situations.  One wonders if absolute sequential courses could be offered ONLY in paired up schedules e.g. "If you take Greek I first semester YOU WILL take Greek II second semester." essentially making it a one year class.

The eight period day allows for a schedule where one can say 'we met the spec and touched on everything required.'

In an effort to find materials on both sides of the issue, it appears that there are a variety of issues involving many variables.   Read through the research and you will find favorable and unfavorable findings.  One reason for this lies with the fact that not all block schedules are the same. Several studies in individual schools in Iowa say that grades decreased with block scheduling along with ACT and SAT scores, while Minnesota and Wisconsin finds the opposite to be true.

If local indicators are that it works, then it would behoove administrators and officials to stay with it using education as the primary rationale.  If grades and any other school characteristic are declining then it may be time to consider something else.  But it may not be an all or nothing situation. 

Then it is time to simply find what works,and do what works and not lock into an inflexible model that will prevent the best education for everyone. 

1.  What characteristics are positive about block scheduling according to teachers, students, administrators and statistics and studies? 

2.  What characteristics of the traditional schedule are positive or beneficial according to teachers, students, administrators, studies and statistics? 

Find the commonalities and expand on those commonalities to fit the needs of the students and the district.