An Explanation of Mornings and Wednesdays

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday

The academic day for middle school students begins at 8:30am. In the morning on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, students will use their time to learn, practice, and review concepts, and to complete assignments for the classes that are not being held in the afternoon.

Teachers will use Schoology to provide specific independent learning activities and/or lessons for students to complete during the morning. Teachers also have the option to schedule differentiated instruction for small groups or individual students. This may be a time to re-teach a concept, go over an assignment or assessment, or to provide structure for a group of students to collaborate on a project.

At 10:45am, all students will join their Advisory class for live instruction and class meetings on Teams. Each day of the week, our Advisory classes have a different theme and there are distinct lessons for students to participate in each day. 

The following schedule is used for morning work:

Catharine Blaine 2020-2021 Middle School Schedule
	Start	End	Monday & Thursday	Tuesday & Friday
Independent Work Time & Small Groups (Teacher Led)	8:30	9:10	Period 4 Independent & small group	Period 1 Independent & small group
	9:15	9:55	Period 5 Independent & small group	Period 2 Independent & small group
	10:00	10:40	Period 6 Independent & small group	Period 3 Independent & small group
	10:45	11:25	Advisory	Advisory
Lunch Break	11:30	12:30	Lunch pick-up available at Blaine

Wednesdays

Wednesdays are a day for middle school teachers to provide live, differentiated instruction for small groups of students. Plans and schedules for this instruction will be communicated by each teacher to their classes and students through Schoology prior to Wednesday morning. Teachers will use their professional judgment in determining which students they will schedule time with and how they will use this time.

Teachers might hold time open on some Wednesdays for any student to check in with them on assignment information, academic concepts, or workflow planning, rather than conduct small group live learning sessions.

It is expected that most students will not have required/scheduled live instruction time on Wednesdays, but all students are expected to engage in academic work during the day.

The following schedule is used to avoid overlap between classes:

Teachers will provide specific independent learning activities and/or lessons for all students to complete on Wednesdays. Information regarding this independent work will be communicated to students through Schoology. To be clear, Wednesdays are not a ‘day off’ for students or teachers.

Middle School Assemblies will take place on some Wednesdays and 30 minutes for these assemblies is reserved in the schedule. For days when there is not an assembly, this time is for independent student work or a stretch/snack break.