Name Carolyn Gassmann

EPPSP Group 39
Butler University

The Experiential Program for Preparing School Principals

STANDARD:
26: Assist in the design and implementation of a comprehensive building schedule.
Become involved with the various aspects of preparing a building-based schedule. Familiarity
with computerized scheduling programs will also be considered an integral aspect of the
administrative task. (ELCC 3.1)

Summary:

As the Covid-19 pandemic continued into the winter of 2020, Mayor Joe Hogsett mandated that
all schools begin fully virtual instruction in late November. Schools were given about a two week
window to terminate in-person learning and make the transition to eLearning. As my school
worked to make that transition there was a great deal of work to be done. One of those tasks
was to create a schedule for our building’s support staff, which includes five different
Instructional Assistants to both the Special Education program and the Dual Language program.

On a normal day these staff members are integral part of the school community, as they pull
small groups of students to provide support, push into classrooms to assist teachers, and help
throughout the building wherever necessary.

As we were preparing for the transition, I was meeting with my principal about various aspects
of the plan. During this meeting he asked me to prepare a potential schedule to put these staff
members to use in eLearning in the most effective and intentional way.

From there I took this task home to complete. I began by writing each grade level on a large
whiteboard. From there, I assigned each IA to two grade levels each. Then I blocked out each
grade level’s recess and lunch, as these were both areas which required nonnegotiable IA
support. Once that was done I ensured that each person had their required thirty minute lunch
built in at an optimal time. I then went on to block out each grade level’s specials class time.

When that initial setup was complete I went on to attempt to divide each IA’s time equally
between the two grade levels they were deemed to service. Each day in our building grade
levels have two intervention blocks—one for reading and one for math. I ensured that each
grade level had IA support for a full intervention block each day. The idea was that the IAs
would alternate between those subject areas each day to ensure that students in each grade
level were receiving the necessary support in both as frequently as possible.

After covering the interventions I went on to attempt to divide the reading and math blocks as
evenly as possible for each grade level. The goal of this was to ensure that all grade levels had
support for a significant portion of their two key instructional blocks. Depending on how teachers
structured their lessons, these IAs could support during whole group work, independent work
time, or even pull small groups of students into a breakout room to provide additional support.
Regardless of the structure, it was important that every grade level had the optimal quantity of
support time.

Finally, after dividing up all key instructional time, I split any remaining time in the school day as
evenly as possible between the IAs to make sure they were able to support teachers not just
with academics, but with as many different tasks as possible.

Reflection:

The act of creating this schedule felt very much like a puzzle. Between balancing minutes and
providing support in each grade level, it was a task that felt impossible to complete at points, but
with careful planning and trial and error I was able to complete it.

While this was scheduling on a small scale, as it only involved moving the support of five staff
members, it still gave me great insight into the scheduling process. As I was beginning this task,
my principal mentioned that it is crucial to “maximize human capital”, meaning that we must be
as intentional as possible about ensuring that these staff members were used in the most
intentional way to support as many students and teachers as possible. This comment guided
me while I worked, as it helped me think about how to be as strategic in organizing and laying
out the scheduled plan.

As mentioned, this task felt like a giant puzzle at times, and makes me curious and excited
about one day assisting in the creation of a full building schedule for all grade levels. In that
instance, I don’t know if maximizing human capital would necessarily be as great of a goal as
maximizing intentional student instructional time. I am eager to work on this task one day in the
future, and am grateful that I had this experience to introduce me to the act of creating strong,
intentional schedules.
Artifacts:

This is the whiteboard on which I worked to balance the schedules.