Block Scheduling can be Intimidating

We have been on Block Scheduling for the last several weeks while students prepared to take the GHGT. At first, planning for two hour instruction was a little intimidating but it all worked out.
This week we tested,(GHGT) so many of my classes were greatly reduced in numbers. It gave me the opportunity to spend time and provide quality instruction to some of my students that I would not have been able to give as much attention in our regular class time. Most of the students remained focused throughout the period with minimal distractions. We did some hands on activities and really explored the key points of the lesson. The students really appeared engaged and stated they learned alot from the lesson covered.I know it is a dream to think smaller classes and longer periods classes can produce successful instruction, especially in vocation classes. It just makes sense.Sorry, I got carried away, it was just a thought. I know someone out there knows that smaller classes might just yield quality results but they don't pay for themselves according to formulas used to calculate and allocate dollars from the government.Larger classes with major distractions tend to have higher failure rates and yield questionable results. Which would you rather? I thought we were discusssing block scheduling. Oh well, back to the grind.