In scheduling, the principle is simple. Everyone has a “best” learning and teaching time. That can be established by understanding your own circadian rhythms using heart beat and so on. But most of us already know the times when we are most alert and most on our game. When do you prefer to do tasks that require a great deal of thought? When would you like to take a nap if you could? Some people should never drive in the afternoon! Others would sleep in until 10 every day if they could and stay up until 2 or 3 in the morning.
In our anecdotal observation of faculty around the country, around 70% of them say that they are morning people. This accounts for the myth whereby they say they want to teach students because that’s when the students are fresh. Actually, students (including teenagers) are all over the place in terms of preferred learning time. Some even express no preference at all. What’s important in the schedule is to recognize that students need to learn at their best time and access their teachers at their best time.
You achieve this by rotating classes on a continual basis—first class, then second, then third, and so on through the cycle. It’s confusing for teachers but students catch on really fast—and they like it!
You deliver your school’s mission to your students via your schedule, an elaborately choreographed movement of people, space, and time. It’s almost an art form! In our Scheduling Without Conflict workshop, we will show you how to make it work, while creating “space” and “time.” Register today for our Jan. 27-Feb. 2, 2013 workshop—and get special team pricing if you send a scheduling team. NOTE: If you are looking for help for your 2011-12 schedule, this is your ideal opportunity! You will have one-on-one time with Roxanne Higgins, ISM President and Scheduling Consultant, and benefit from peer networking.
