If you’ve ever stared down a 90-minute block and thought, What am I supposed to do with all this time?, don’t worry! I got you! The block scheduling teaching strategies in this post come from years of personal experience!
Block scheduling has become increasingly common in high schools, middle school, and even some elementary schools. Whether you’re working with a B-block schedule, alternating days, or another block schedule format, the shift from a traditional schedule to longer class periods requires a completely different approach to instructional strategies.
While having to plan for 90 minutes at a time can feel overwhelming (especially your first time!), it can actually be really easy!
Plus, I believe it’s so beneficial for students. With the right specific strategies, those longer blocks of instructional time can lead to deeper student learning, stronger student engagement, and even improved student achievement.
In this post, I’m going to share tips based on my personal experiences.
My Own Experience with Block Scheduling
I taught for eight years at a high school with block scheduling. (I also attended high school on a block schedule!)
While I did have some awkward timing during that first year of teaching, I eventually found my stride. Now, I’m not sure how anyone teaches with less time!
At my school, we had four 90-minute blocks with shorter advisory periods (30-40 minutes depending on the year). Classes only lasted a semester and met every day. That meant you basically had to pack two days’ worth of learning into a single day.
This was great for me as a teacher. I loved this schedule because it meant we could get deep into activities, reading, and discussion. (No stopping and starting constantly!) It also meant I had fewer students at a time (only three classes and a prep period).
Students benefited too. Students who failed a class could immediately sign up to retake it the next semester–meaning fewer students finished the year with failing grades or credit deficiencies.
Honestly, I’m not sure why more schools aren’t on block schedules. They’re the best!
Why Block Scheduling Can Be a Great Idea
When implemented well, block scheduling can transform the school day.
Teachers often find it’s a great way to dive deeper into content blocks. Your lessons can go much deeper when you have more than twenty minutes to focus on a lesson. Students have time to really sink their teeth into a concept or activity. And if you’re someone who enjoys project-based learning, you and your students will have more time for research, discovery, and creation.
I also think block scheduling better supports academic success. Block schedules mean fewer classes in a day for both students and teachers. Students have more time to focus on a few core subjects while teachers have fewer classes to plan and less work to grade. It benefits everyone in an educational setting.
I think it can even help with classroom management. With fewer transitions, you’re less likely to see fights or drama in the hallways.
Some schools even report positive impacts on test scores, fewer discipline problems, and better outcomes for students in in-school suspension programs.
Starting Class Strong: Your First 10 Minutes
Regardless of how long our classes are, we teachers know that routine and consistency matter. That’s why I’m a big believer in warm-ups (also called bell ringers or do nows). A strong warm-up helps students transition into learning mode and makes good use of those first few minutes of class time.
So the first of my block scheduling teaching strategies is to figure out your bell ringer routine early.
Normally, bell ringers can become a little stressful. What if your students don’t get to work quickly enough? What if you need more time to go over the warm-up than you expected?
But extended class periods mean you don’t have to stress too much about getting your warm-up done as quickly as possible. You have time for students to get settled, attempt their bell ringer, walk around, answer questions, and even go over the answer.
This means in your block period, your warm-ups can activate prior knowledge and preview key concepts. This is especially important in secondary schools, where students are juggling fewer classes but more content per day.
Here is an activity list for warm-up ideas:
- Quick writes connected to your subject matter (perfect for language arts)
- Spiral review for formative assessment
- Short analysis tasks for social studies
- Grammar or vocabulary bell ringers
These types of important tasks build consistency while supporting student progress across the academic year.
Need some ready-to-go warm-ups? Try these Grammar Warm-ups or these Poetry Warm-ups!
Breaking Up Class Time: The Secret to Surviving Longer Periods
The next 70 minutes of your class time will be the bulk of your instruction. This is where planning gets tricky. Expecting students to stay focused for an entire 90-minute block without variety is a recipe for disengagement (and rising discipline problems).
The best block scheduling teaching strategies involve chunking your class sessions into purposeful segments. During your instruction time, you should switch topics (from reading to grammar instruction) and/or activities (from taking notes to a review game).
It can be helpful to think of the middle of your class as three 20-minute sessions or two 35-minute sessions and plan accordingly.
Here’s an example of a simple structure for longer periods of teaching:
- Direct instruction (15–20 minutes)
- Collaborative learning or group work (20–30 minutes)
- Independent practice or small groups (15–20 minutes)
This structure allows for a mix of direct instruction, student-centered learning, and hands-on activities—all essential for maintaining student engagement.
My Wednesdays always looked the same: independent reading, independent reading exit ticket, direct grammar instruction, independent grammar practice. These days included a mix of topics (literature and grammar) and activities (reading, assessing, note-taking, and practice).
Novel reading days often included longer periods of reading as a class (stopping to answer questions, discuss, and review) and then a period of time for independent writing or working on an ongoing project.
(I have more tips for planning novel studies here!)
Figure out the “pillars” of your instruction (literature, writing, and grammar, for example) and try to include two per day.
Ending Class with Purpose: Your Last 10 Minutes
The last ten minutes of your class don’t have to be chaotic cleaning. You can make them just as meaningful as the rest of class while “teaching to the bell.”
Use this last block of time to reinforce learning and check for understanding.
First, make sure students have cleaned up and taken a seat. (We’re trying to minimize the chaos here.) Then, do one more quick activity.
My school required that we end every class on a positive or motivational note, so I always played a YouTube video of 5 minutes or less. These shorts were sometimes inspiring, sometimes funny, and sometimes educational. This didn’t require any materials for students to use, so when the bell rang, everyone could get up and leave a clean classroom behind without the clean-up shuffle.
The last ten minutes are also a great time to review, check in, or even assess students’ work for the day. Exit tickets are fast and can be handed to you at the door on the way out. Simply asking students if they have questions or quizzing them on major points of the day’s lesson also works.
Here are some more effective closure ideas:
- Exit tickets for quick formative assessment
- Reflection prompts about the learning process
- Summaries of the day’s key concepts
- Previews of the next class sessions
- Inspirational or educational short videos
This helps solidify student learning and gives you valuable data to guide your instructional strategies moving forward. Plus, it helps to manage behavior at the end of class and keep kids from piling up at the door waiting for the bell.
Block Scheduling Teaching Strategies for Keeping Students Engaged the Entire Block
When it comes to block schedules, I think most teachers worry the most about engagement. How do you keep teens engaged for a full 90-minute period?
Engagement doesn’t just “happen” because you have extra time. In fact, without careful planning, longer blocks can actually increase student stress and lead to more missing work.
To keep energy up during longer blocks of time, focus on adding variety and movement to your classes.
Now I know that this sounds stressful. And yeah, it can be. Activities that require hands-on activities and movement typically also require more prep. And when you’re already basically planning for two days in a single class period, who wants to complicate it even more?
I recommend starting small. Your first year of block scheduling, plan as you can. But the next year, start adding in more activities. Pick a note-taking activity and turn it into a gallery walk or a scavenger hunt. Take a review day and create a review game instead.
Just one or two of these activities per unit can make a big difference for you and your students.
Here are some different activities you can rotate in to mix up your lessons:
- Small groups and study group rotations
- Project-based learning for in-depth learning
- Collaborative learning tasks that require discussion
- Opportunities for in-depth study of complex texts or ideas
- Strategic bathroom breaks or quick resets to maintain focus
- Gallery walks
- Scavenger hunts
- Partner and group work
- Anything creative–coloring, drawing, sculpting, etc.
Your teaching should be somewhat predictable and consistent. But adding in the occasional “fun” activity or switching up your lesson delivery will lead to more engagement and more effective instruction.
Block Scheduling Teaching Strategies and Tips
If you’re in your first year of block scheduling (or even your second semester), planning can feel overwhelming. The shift requires more than just stretching your old lessons.
Here are some best practices to keep in mind:
Plan in chunks, not lectures.
Think in terms of different activities, not extended direct instruction. Maybe students take notes on a skill and then practice it. Maybe they read a chapter and then discuss it with a peer.
Prioritize depth over coverage.
Use the larger blocks of time for greater depth and in-depth learning, rather than rushing through content. Having longer chunks of time to teach is a huge advantage–use it!
Build in flexibility.
Not every class will go as planned. Having backup activities ensures a good use of every minute. Keep review worksheets in your filing cabinets and have a game or two in your back pocket to fill unusual gaps of time.
Collaborate with colleagues. Work with base teachers, enrichment lab teachers, or your department during professional development or staff development days. Ask the librarian to come in and do a lesson on research or show students how to navigate the library. You don’t have to do it on your own!
Reflect and adjust.
What works during the first year may need tweaking by the following year. Pay attention to student achievement, student stress, and overall teacher morale. Were there any boring lessons that can be broken up or changed into activities?
Don’t forget–planning basics work for block scheduling, too. Focus on backwards design. What will students need to know in order to pass their end-of-unit assessment? Use those skills to fill in your lesson plans.
Final Thoughts on Block Scheduling Teaching Strategies
Whether your school board just approved a new block schedule format or you’ve been teaching block schedule classes for years, success comes down to intentional design. Use the block scheduling teaching strategies in this post to help you plan engaging and dynamic lessons.
Use those extended class periods wisely. Break up your time. Focus on engagement. Plan with purpose.
Because when you do, those long stretches of time stop feeling like a burden—and start becoming an opportunity for real, meaningful learning.