Specials+Calendar+Committe+10-11

​ We need your input to create next year's schedules!
 * Welcome to Salem Elementary's first "virtual committee"!

NORMS FOR "VIRTUAL COMMITTEE": ** 1. Respect all opinions. 2. Be positive.

** PURPOSE/CONTEXT: **  To create a forum for the Salem Elementary Team to work together to develop an effective schedule for the 2010-2011 school year that will support learning and teaching.

By the end of the virtual committee (//May 7, 2010//), participants will have gathered suggestions to assist with the development of the 2010-2011 schedules.
 * DESIRED OUTCOME: **

The process of creating the schedules: School receives staff allotment. Teachers and students are assigned to tracks. Specials schedule is created. Lunch schedule is created.
 * BACKGROUND INFORMATION: **

**GUIDELINES:** Use this wikispace to add your ideas/suggestions. Suggestions can be made by the entire grade level and/or individuals. Please include your name with your suggestions. Remember to refer to the norms.


 * YOUR INPUT: **

First of all, I don't know if I'm doing this right. Am I supposed to write directly on this page? Well, I am. I suggest that grade levels have lunches and specials at the same time allowing for more common schedules per grade level. This way cross classroom teaching can occur if wanted/needed. S. Hall

Second Grade Ideas:
 * AM Team Time
 * Common Time K-2 and 3-5 literacy block
 * Common Lunch
 * Alternating Math and Literacy Days for Team Time

-Great idea to host a wikispace! My ideas:
 * Grade levels have lunch and specials around the same time of day.
 * Schedule the literacy block for K-5, enabling it to be protected and uninterrupted.
 * Use the Team Time structure and practice for grouping students for interventions and enrichment, allowing each team to determine the time of day and subject (modeled after the current 3rd grade approach). Allow curriculum helpers to plug in where their areas of expertise lie. Stacy :)

-Grade levels having lunch around the same time would solve a lot of scheduling issues. -We understand that specials cannot always be at the same time when certain tracks are out. This year, track one has had to rearrange their schedules mid-quater. Last year, track 3 had to switch their schedules around. Next year, I propose that another track take a turn. This way, it only effects teacher's schedules once every few years. Comment: Each year some teachers have had their schedules 'bounce' This has been a function of where the bubble is and the flow of track in/out. I keep a record of which teacher has bounced in the past years and have made every effort to share the pain. S. Bruns

From a specialist view. It really helps when we have the same track on the same day. As a track progresses through the year it eliminates or lessens having to jump around in the curriculum. I'll hope Liz will chime in, but I know without this, her instrument management is a nightmare. - Scott Bruns

SPED ED put ours under DISCUSSION but we are also adding it here: [|**debbiesscott**] from SPED EDUC It is necessary that specials, lunch, and recess be scheduled common to grade levels. If a special MUST be moved during the year, please move it close to its' original time. TEAM TIME: Could it be restructured as intervention/remediation/enrichment time (no new concepts presented) and cover both literacy and math as the grade level sees fit? We would be happy to discuss this with the committee. Grade levels would be assigned a different period during the day but each grade level time should be different. Once this time is established, consistent time throughout the year is key. This may be a great way to utilize David's math expertise. Who comprises the scheduling committee and could SPEC ED/ESL/AG/READING/MATH SPECIALISTS be a part of this?

[|**debbiesscott**] from Kristen It was difficult this year to lose my special spot three times each quarter. It was not appropriate for some of my students to have to be part of a large class. Next year, can you please make sure that CCK has a place for specials all year? The same time during the day is also effective due to the large group of students in this setting that are diagnosed with autism.

[|**debbiesscott**] from Kristen It is necessary for CCK to have the same specials and lunch times as the track 4 kdg. teachers. this allows mainstreaming which is often a part of the student's IEP from day 1. This worked out so well this year and was a great benefit for the students.

Here's another specialist perspective (please overlook any typos, spelling, or grammatical issues-I am trying to multitask:)

1. 7-45 minute classes a day is too many!!! This year the schedule was so full that we were often teaching 7 classes in a day and even still there were 2 classes we could not always fit in the schedule so they had to get split up. This causes several problems-most importantly, it's not good for the kids. Especially because the classes involved were CCK and the K-1 combo class. Sending those kids to other classes creates a lack of continuity in what they are learning...in some cases it puts kids with a class that is doing things that are not appropriate to their needs...it creates organizational nightmares for the specialists...not to mention it creates k and 1 classes with 30 kids in them-YUCK! Next year, if we are in a situation with the same or more students in the school and no extra specialists to help carry the load, I propose we look at altering the schedule-shorter specials, 6-day rotation, something so that specialists are not as overbooked and every class gets their own specials time. There is a limit to how many 45 minute classes we can cram in the day.

2. I love having the same track all day long!!!!!! The more we can do this, the better-it really helps in terms of organization and set up, especially because we have no time between classes.

Liz

3rd grade ideas:
 * Common lunch
 * Common planning time (during specials) – can we find a way to keep the schedule constant?
 * Add media to specials schedule (even if only when track 2 is out)
 * 6-day rotation? (ex. Olive Chapel)
 * Create proposed schedule options to be shared with grade levels – get feedback on which is preferred
 * Investigate other year-round schools that have common lunch and specials to see how they make it work.
 * Schools to consider: Green, Morrisville, West Lake
 * Separate lunch and specials so that each team has one in the morning and the other in the afternoon.
 * Suggestion that 3-5 have afternoon specials for less disruption during testing
 * School-wide team time
 * We would like to do reading intervention groups during our common literacy block.

Teacher's Assistants comments: We should not switch to eating lunch with grade levels because... 1. The class sizes are much larger in the upper grades and we would run out of room for them at the overflow tables because they only seat 24 students.

2. The upper grades when eating all together get crazy and silly and feed off of each other. This has been our experience from the past when the grade levels ate together. This is why we stopped doing grade level lunches.

3. With the K and 1 needing a lot of assistance with serving and opening everything for them, it is very difficult when they are all there together.

4. We would propose that instead we could do lunch by tracks with two tracks eating at the same time.

Thank you...Anu Chawla, Anusha Iyengar, Toni Reardon, Karen Lang, Karen Lalley, Denise Ament, Angela Blanton, Judy Albrecht, Pat Godfrey, Michelle Bagaasen, Manu Pinkus, Debra Edwards, Mary Anne Shaw, Linda Rock, Jamie Livernois, Sujata Shirsekar, Colleen Carter, Denise Kiser and Laura Stone.