Thank you to all those who responded to my request for information re
dealing with too many classes and not enough time to schedule them all.
I've waited to post a hit until some action was decided upon. Below is a
compilaiton of the comments I received. In the next post I will include the
summary I sent to my principal and what will most likely be the outcome
based on discussion in a staff meeting.
Bob Koreis
Librarian
Hockinson High School
bob.koreis@hock.k12.wa.us
The library is not a shrine for the worship of books. It is not a temple
where literary incense must be burned or where one's devotion to the bound
book is expressed in ritual. A library, to modify the famous metaphor of
Socrates, should be the delivery room for the birth of ideas - a place where
history comes to life. Norman Cousins
One of our schools has that same problem. What they did was cut down
the length of time out a person could sign up for facilities. Right
now, I believe it is one day at a time. But the worst of the offenders
for taking all the times has retired; they may be operating with a
longer time line now. (Mine can sign up 4 weeks out.)
The secret being, I can access the calendar and make changes anytime.
_____
We have a few guidelines.
1) People are strongly encouraged to use the library no more than 2
consecutive sessions for one assignment. We find kids waste time
otherwise. They have free periods they can come in if they did not
finish, but a limited official time in here with the teacher
concentrates the mind, as they say.
2) My calendar is read-only online and I have a paper backup which they
sign with me. I don't require a big plan, but there is usually a casual
conversation along the lines of "Oh, what can I do to get ready for your
kids? What is their goal here?"
3) I make only a month at a time available for sign up and viewing. This
addressed the equity issue and was initiated and approved by a site
council.
_____
This worked very well in a MS of 900 students:
Teachers may book the library/computer lab for no more than one block of 3
consecutive days per month.
Teachers may book space in the library/computer lab only one month in
advance.
Teachers must share their lesson/unit plans with the librarian AND subject
supervisor before booking any library/computer time for their students.
And unwritten but still informally enforced: any teacher who books the
library/lab more than once every month must cede their next time-slot to a
teacher who has not yet used the library/lab this school year.
_____
Perhaps at the beginning of the month, they could sign up for just that
month. And if anyone asks for "too much" only pencil them in and confirm
later, leaving space for emergencies.
I had a teacher once who wanted to sign up for huge amounts of time, then
got outraged when another class had to share the room. She kept saying,
"Why can't I have it (all to myself), since I signed up first?" Finally, I
replied, "because you are not the only teacher in this institution." There
was no reply to that. AND, after all that, she didn't let me know when they
weren't coming due to an assembly or something.
_____
I don't know if either of these ideas would work, but how about only
posting one month at a time. Shoot emails to the teachers who don't usually
come and suggest they come and before you post the next month, add them into
the the schedule.
The other option I have seen/heard used is to alternate flexible weeks and
fixed weeks. Provide two weeks of sign up and then leave one week of fixed
for your regular class checkouts (English classes, etc). These ideas may
not work in a high school environment, but seem to do a decent job of equity
in an elementary setting.
Theresa
_____
can you arrange to "block" ahead of time (before your other teachers
schedule their large chunks) some time that would suit the other teachers
whose needs aren't planned as much in advance? Then let those teachers know
the time that you've kept available for them. The teachers who have the
large chunks could perhaps expect/teach their students to budget their
research time and their project completion time better (a valuable lesson
anyway).
The only other consideration would be if your webmaster can't set those
parameters on the online calendar. Then you would have to require teachers
to go through you.
_____
Limit how far out they can schedule both -- 2 weeks
_____
Hi Bob!
I have a very large middle school library and it's heavily used. We have
about 850 students. There are 4 sections in the library: A, B, C, & D
(computer lab), and we have 8 periods in a day. I would attach a copy of
our sign up sheet, but I can't find it! Basically, I set up a table in
word... argh! it's too hard to explain, so I started a new one and am
attaching that so you can get the idea. I handwrite the dates up at the top
in the "day" box. We only put out two weeks at a time (we keep the rest of
the sheets for the year in a file where the teachers can't get them), and we
limit it to only three days in a row or three per week. The computer lab is
the busiest section. Sometimes we will do an advanced "booking," but again,
it's limited. I also like teachers to come sign up in the library so I can
ask them what they plan on doing, and I offer to provide resources, pull
books, show online databas es, etc. If they are coming in for a book
selection, I like to know if it's fiction, genres, bios, etc. and I can
prepare book talks.
When you inform your staff of the changes, remind them that the library
needs to provide fair and equal access, and the new system is designed to do
just that. I hope it works out!
_____
At the large (2700 students) high school where I interned, the LMSs had a
binder with a paper calendar schedule. They only had a calendar available
for the following month or so, so teachers could NOT schedule very far in
advance. This binder also containded collaborative planning worksheets.
Teachers had to come into the library and talk (at least briefly) with the
Media Specialists and fill out the form. This served to increase
collaboration, not to limit scheduling. Since you have your principals
blessing and the technology allows, you could probably limit editing
capability of to the online calendar to you. That way teachers wanting to
schedule could at least see the schedule.
_____
Wow, Bob, we dealt with this same issue last year. Our senior English
teachers were hogging the library schedule--2 of them had 32 45-minute
blocks each in one semester!!! That was for either our library/lab, a
separate lab, or one of the mobile lab. It made my other teachers angry and
frustrated, even within the English department. Not to mention the living
hell it made out of our lives in the library--the kids had so much time to
work on their Senior Project, and they knew it, that they just played
computer games or watched videos on the computer (which made me take time
writing them up).
So, I got other department chairs to complain to the principal (so he'd here
it from someone other than me). Then I arranged a meeting with him, the
assistant principal in charge of technology, and the English department
chair (since her department was the schedule abuser).
When my principal heard how many times they had scheduled, and he added it
up, he realized how little they were actually teaching. He said they could
only get 5 times per lab a semester--I bargained up to 8 per library/lab and
D26 lab, and 8 mobile lab sessions a semester per teacher. They can not
trade times with other teachers who never use the library (like a math
teacher--believe me they tried). They must schedule on our Groupwise
calendar through me. (I could never let mine put themselves on a
calendar--mine used to erase each others names in my paper calendar!).
The limits (although not too strictly enforced), have helped tremendously.
We are seeing teachers we haven't seen in years. The senior teachers are
still whining, but have had to get over it. I am going to send gentle
reminders to those way over their 8 slots (16 total) per semester, but it is
SOOOO much better this year.
_____
I only put out two weeks at a time to schedule, that way a few do not
take all of the spots.
_____
I am in a school of 2000 (HS). We have a scheduling calendar on paper. The
teacher is required to come to us to schedule library time. During research
time, they get 5 days. If they need more time, they come back to us after
everyone else has scheduled their time to fit it in. We have a separate
computer lab, but right now is temporarily housed in the library.
Requesting the teacher to come directly to the library helps us plan the
lesson that they want our help with, meet their needs, etc. We plan never to
post an online calendar because we see too many problems with it. We host
meetings for the district, and we have a student book discussion group that
meets and eats pizza, etc.
_____
We use an online calendaring here as well. Our teachers can schedule thBob,
You could always use a "no more than 3 days in a row" policy to open it up
to other teachers. Can you go to their rooms if it is something that doesn't
require you to be "in" the library? Can you add a "topic" slot to their sign
ins?
_____
e labs themselves, but they must come see me to get on the library calendar,
or at least add their names to the paper version in my office. I would
start there. I also find that some times of the year are worse than others
as far as demand goes. I do a lot of carts of books to classrooms for
teachers that can't get onto the schedule. I understand the frustration
with teachers taking large chunks of time, and then watching the kids not
use it wisely when they do come. Maybe as teachers meet with you to
schedule, while you discuss what they are planning, you could suggest a time
frame for the assignment that will accommodate others. Usually they will be
understanding of the needs of other teachers...the problem is that those
that show up the morning of and expect to get in. It really is their
problem, although I understand that to turn them away means you may not see
them again. You just have to concentrate on those that are there, and hope
the others will start planning ahead.
_____
I have an online calendar. I am the only one that can add to it. This
means that the teacher must at least email me. I always ask for a copy of
the assignment and have materials ready for the class when they walk in.
Because we have lost one computer lab to a classroom this year many teachers
are asking to come just to use the computers. I will only do this if a
class doing research is not scheduled. I will book just computers no
further out than 2 days before the date.
_____
Good luck on getting them to change. I think an on line calendar is a
horrible idea for every reason you listed. No one signs up to use our
library or library lab except through me--not even with my aide. I can't
collaborate if I don't know what is going on.
For convenience for staff we also have the only sign up book for the other
labs in the building located in the library. Teachers can sign up there
without assistance from me but they often ask for help when labs are full.
I usually know class sizes and who might be willing to switch labs, etc.
Teachers also call me and ask what is available. It has worked extremely
well. We also have a rule no one can sign up for more that 4 days in a row
in any lab. We have 1200 students.
_____
I really like the idea of you cancelling the online calendar and
initiating more communication with the teachers. What if you sent a
weekly update via email about what's going on,who is scheduled, etc. I
started doing that when we first got email and it sure improved
planning. I always visit new teachers during their planning time to
"check-in", talk to them about what they're doing, etc., to develop a
pattern of communication. Now everybody tends to drop in and see me.
Hope this helps...high school may be more difficult to get going than
middle school!
_____
Yes, some problems are "good problems" to have. A core group of teachers
who are regular library users is great! However, it is important that the
library serve all the students, not just the students whose teachers access
the calendar first. In order to ensure access by all, collect data about
use and non-use. If you have access to previous years' calendars, use those
too. Do you have any teachers have not ever used the library? Perhaps last
year those students also had a teacher who didn't sign up to use the
library. And the year before that? A goal might be to develop a system
that ensures all classes at each grade level receive a minimum set level of
access (which can vary by grade level) within a certain time frame.
We have an intranet calendar where teachers can view classes scheduled into
the library, but they may not add themselves to it. Only the principal, the
website coordinator, and I have password access to make calendar changes.
Teachers have to call or email me with a request, and then I add them to the
calendar once we've agreed on a class visit. I only schedule up to two
weeks in advance, since our space is so limited. It seems to work well for
our needs. On occasion, I have scheduled out more than 2 weeks in advance
in order to accommodate a teacher preparing sub plans before planned
surgery, and to ensure that an entire grade level covers the same material.
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