Scheduling. . .Does it Have to be a Nightmare?

I have three different schools, Prek/Elem, MS, and HS...We start school ona Wednesday, so that day I take my master schedule and the school's master schedule, caseload list, etc. and just start plugging kids in around their specialists (cannot take from music/pe/art/library, but we CAN take from resource). Then, download all the older folk's class schedules and proceed the same with the other two schools, working around class periods, breaks, etc. THEN, in order to start seeing kids as soon as possible, I start seeing kids on the next Tuesday (because I already heard from teachers on Friday and Monday who want to switch). Wednesday goes great at the Elem! Then, when I get to the MS and HS, teachers who didn't respond when I e-mailed them their schedule, suddenly decide that student is no longer in their 2nd period, or their schedule changed on Monday (when I downloaded the class schedules the previous Thursday) and back to the drawing board I go. I'm 2 1/2 weeks in and I think I saw 50% of my kids the first full week, and 90% of my kids this last week, hoping for 100% this week!

Scheduling does get easier after a decade or two.  We don't take students out of music or p.e., so I refer to the master specials schedule to avoid those times.  Then I look at my students who have reading and math with the l.d. teacher, because I can't pull during those i.e.p. minutes.  I also avoid o.t. and p.t. times, usually a half day or two of the week; and then place those children.  After that, I see 3rd and fourth graders in the a.m. and 1st second grades in the p.m. Our student support team meets for half day every other week so I use that off day to test, observe etc.  

This is one of many reasons I now work with HS and MS students.  It is sooooo much easier!  And they come to the speech room on their own, sometimes without me even having to call for them.  That is a big time saver.

I have in the past also made blank master schedules for my building, contacting individual teachers for times and re-contacting when something didn't work. It seemed it still took several days to get it all right.  So, a few years ago I came up with the idea to have a "scheduling party".  I invite all the teachers in my building to my room - (if your room is not big enough, you might use a conference room or someone's classroom) - and provide drinks and snacks.  I still have a chalkboard that stretches the length of my room, so I put up my blank schedule with duties and difficult to schedule kids already filled in.  I pre make a sticky note with the names of each student that needs to see me - if Johnny comes 2 times a week he gets 2 sticky notes.  Each grade level is a different color and each DX is a different color - for example K Artic is blue, K Lang is red, 1st Artic is pink, 1st lang is yellow and so on.  The teachers draw a number when they come in to determine order to go in.  When it's their turn, the teacher will put her sticky notes on the schedule with the following rules - You can not mix colors and no more than 3 in a time slot.  Everyone stays until all are finished (or risk me scheduling for them which may not be their preference).  When time slots start to fill, the teachers that went first begin to problem solve and help each other out for times.  The first year we did this it took us about an hour with competition for the prime time slots.  This year we were finished in 25 minutes and the teachers see the benefits of helping each other out :)  I have minimal changes as the teachers have chosen the times themselves.  It has made scheduling so much quicker and less stressful at the beginning of the year!

I use to work and work at my schedule until a few years ago. Then I began scheduling students according to their "specials" i.e. computers, P.E. or music. For example, if 3rd grade has their specials from 1:00-2:00 then my schedule for those students is already planned.  I will see my 3rd graders during their "specials" time slot. I no longer have to check with teachers to see what times would work best.  This has taken a large amount of stress off what is the hardest part of the school year.  A bonus is many of my students remember on their own to come to therapy.  

I hate making schedules!! My first years at my school, they only allowed me to pull students from their down time (gym, lunch). Oh how my kids despised that. It also created problems with the counselors in my school who could also only pull from those times. Then just last year I created a rotating schedule. Over 4 weeks, students would be pulled from different classes. My rule (so not to step on admin's toes about students missing class) was students could not be pulled from the same core classes more than once a month. Creating this rotating schedule was taxing and I made mistakes along the way due to looking at so many schedules. It was completed of course, but my next task was creating the schedules for the students! Most of them were able to follow along and others relied on me to track them down. With the special education reform in full swing this year, I have no idea how I will schedule! Wish me luck!

I also make a blank master schedule then in my k-4 building, I contact each teacher personally to schedule their kids. I like this face time. I start with the 4th graders and work down as the older the grades seem to be more tight their schedules and and the primary teachers seem to be more flexible in their schedules. Then I schedule the MH kids as those teachers are most flexible. I dread this day every year but am always amazed that it comes together. I also have to remind myself that my schedule is a fluid document subject to change any/every day as kids come and go and also as there are interruptions in the school day.