A number of people have asked for a hit so here goes. I have =
to say I 'm really sorry that so many people are in the same situation. =
One very disturbing issue that we have observed and others brought out =
was the fact that scheduling classes was the only way to get many =
teachers to bring their classes into the library, often due to time =
restraints because of testing. Here goes:
Although flexible scheduling is the ideal, I have never =
worked in that=20
type of school. I am in a K - 5 elementary school. I have 23 =
classes=20
every week for 45 minutes (except K, which is 22 minutes) =
which allows=20
classroom teachers to have a preparation period. Also, I am =
assigned=20
duty for an hour a day. I check in books at the start of each =
class,=20
teach for about 25 minutes, circulate books at the end. I =
try to=20
alternate a literature unit with an information literacy =
unit, linking=20
my lessons with those done in the classrooms or other =
specialists.
It is a challenge, the only plus is seeing all the children =
regularly.
Jackie
Although high school, we are on a 6 day rotating schedule - =
and everyone
seems to love it. It is interesting to see how different =
behaviors are for
the same class at various times of the day. Only the 2 lunch =
periods and our
LAP (study) periods do not rotate. I don't think we have any =
desire to
change the schedule - works great.
Allan
One caution regarding the A-D or A-F type of schedule.
Some parent volunteers like to come on a day of the week that =
their children
have library class. This is not possible with the schedule =
that doesn't stay
the same each week. I have been under both systems and prefer =
the normal
week for elementary students. For middle school it may be less =
important.
Pat Bartoshesky, Librarian
We were on a 6 day rotation with 40 min. teacher planning this =
year. We're
going to a 7 day rotation for next year because our school =
will probably go
over 1000 next year. I have NO hope of open access because =
there is no other
way to provide contractual teacher planning that we can figure =
out. I do
lots of read alouds to all grades.
Lucinda Wallen
At my former school we had a similar 4-day rotation: A-B-C-D, =
and my
children went to a school that had a 5-day rotation, ABCDE. =
With this
kind of schedule, the "specials" are assigned on a letter day, =
rather
than a day of the week. Now, in any given week there may well =
be 2 of
any letter day: M-Fri would be ABCDA, or whatever. It really =
doesn't
adversely affect your library schedule; in fact it's better =
because all
those long weekends with Mondays off and those snow days in =
January will
no longer take away from library time. We always had a big =
"Today is"
sign outside our library door and another one at the desk. For =
the
really little ones, one of our first library projects of the =
year was to
color a "My Library Day Is_____ " refrigerator magnet. (I =
don't know how
many of them actually made it home to go on the =
refrigerator...)=3D20
We often have kids who forget their book on library day, but =
then come
in during home room the next morning to return their book & =
check one
out. The kids are going to be so much better at adapting to =
the new
schedule than you are...typical, isn't it??
Good luck with it!
Barb
I worked in elementary schools that used a five day and a six =
day
rotation. It was great. The kids remembered just fine, and it =
meant that
no one was shortchanged by Monday (real world) holidays or by =
unexpected
(snow days) days off. You just picked up at the next day. I =
think new
parents had the largest problem with it. They kept wanting to =
call Day
1, Monday <g>.
Dan Robinson
Where my son & daughter went to school they had a similar plan =
and did away
with using weekly day-names. Their days were A B C D E and F. =
Someone sat
down with a calendar before the start of school and just =
filled in each
school day, skipping holidays and weekends, with a letter A-F. =
They had a
big reminder sign as you entered the building for what letter =
day it was,
and all of the event calendars listed the letter next to the =
date in each
square of the calendar. It took some getting used to, and =
they first
encountered it in High School. I'm not sure how well it would =
work with
little ones in an Elementary School, but it can be a good =
solution to
scheduling issues.
Gail Smith, NBCT
Our elementary school serving 3rd and 4th grades is on a fixed =
schedule
for library time. We are remaining on the fixed schedule, but =
going to
a rotating schedule. This means that Mrs. Smith's class won't =
have a
set day, like Friday for Media Center, but will come on every =
4th out of
5 days of the school year. I would be interested in hearing =
from other
schools that are on that type of schedule. We are =
particularly
concerned about ways to remind kids and parents when Media =
Center day is
so that they will bring their books back on time. Any help =
would be
greatly appreciated. =20
Thanks for all of your responses.
Barbara Keltner
Media Specialist
Naples, FL
bspiel3@comcast.net
=20
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