Excel Again

Week of April 27th
Every year for the past seven years I have been thinking about the next year’s schedule during the Spring Break. Generally, I was on a plane for hours and it gave me the time to think. We seemed to be fairly sure that funding and staffing continues. This year there is very different there is more uncertainty than ever. We may be losing our CLE program which brings an additional 3 positions to the school. Therefore it is very difficult to think about the schedule. I spent an entire Sunday just thinking. I generally use page after page of paper and often rewrite the information. This year I decided to use my Excel course knowledge to set up a template that I could use on the computer. The schedule is very detailed and one thing always affects another. I am sad to say that lunch really impacts the way the instructional program can be done. Lunch affects preps, preps affect grade time, grade time affect when services can be delivered, etc. etc. I was able to set up an excel spreadsheet of 5 charts that could help me see the schedule on one easy page. One change was reflected in the charts it impacted upon. This made it much easier to think about the preps, lunch, specials, and grade time. Since I do not know if this will reach any of my principal schedulers, I will bring it to the principal’s leadership, in case anyone could use the form.