This year is especially challenging because I am planning for full time students in 4 different grades in 5 homerooms and there are six adults to distribute among them. I am grateful for those adults! They are dedicated to children and always ready to do what needs to be done! I want to make sure they get their lunches and breaks, and want to come back the next day.
There is a lot of information to gather before that final schedule actually is written.
1. Summarize each student's services.
2. Classroom schedules. This part was tricky a couple of years ago. It depended on each individual teacher and when she or he had their schedule ready. NOW, our whole school is on a schedule, each grade level has the same schedule and it is ready to view quickly.
3. Next step is to write each student's schedule. This is the first year of doing this, and it is worth the time spent.
There are 2 columns for 4th grade because there is one student who attends the regular classroom full time with support while there are two others who attend small groups for reading, writing and math. It makes sense to me.
4. NOW, we are ready to plug in the adults! I first started to pencil in what adult would be where on the student schedule. This did not go smoothly because there were lunches and breaks to consider. So I started another schedule for US. Use a pencil...with a good eraser....
and be prepared to make changes on a regular basis.
The trick is covering each other's lunches and breaks..it is helpful when people want to take a break at the end of the day so they may leave sooner.
With six of us in play, we had more options then usual!
That's it for now,
More later,
Paula
