With the start of second semester, new schedules have been released. Students have been scrambling to change classes according to teacher preferences and to be with friends. This has been causing lots of chaos for the counselors, who are in charge of making these changes.
About two or three years ago, Benilde-St. Margaret’s switched over to a block schedule. At first, this proved to be a big adjustment, but as time went on, counselors have seen changes in how students prefer their class schedules. With odd classes typically on Mondays and Wednesdays and even classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, students like to balance the difficulty of their classes each day. “Students will sometimes say they think even day classes are going to be way more difficult than odd day classes, so they ask to mix things up,” counselor Amanda Anderson said.
Students will sometimes say they think even day classes are going to be way more difficult than odd day classes, so they ask to mix things up.”
— Amanda Anderson
Another reason students switch classes includes which hour of the day they have free. This can dictate when students show up to school and when they leave. Sometimes this hour changes if students decide they want it before or after one of their more difficult classes so they can have more time to prepare for tests or complete assignments with timely due dates. Many prefer having free hour at the end of the day for the benefit of leaving school early. “We try to make first and second hour or seventh and eighth hour free as a privilege for seniors,” Anderson said.
Another prevalent reason for students to shift their schedules is because of friends. Once schedules come out, people will scramble to see who they know in each of their classes. If students are unhappy, they will ask to change their schedules. “It’s funny because some people only request changes so they can be with people they know,” counselor Kate Berry said.
Additionally, teacher preferences often motivate students to request changes. Whether because of how the teacher structures lessons, interacts with students, or even simply their presence, students have always had favorites and it can be disappointing when they do not have a particular teacher for the semester. “They’ll come up to us and say ‘I want to be with this teacher,’ but unfortunately it’s something we’re told we can’t do,” Anderson said.