#WeirdEd Week 73- Scheduling

I am at a new school this year. New school, new district, new grade. This being my tenth year I'm less worried about things like classroom management and planning than I used to be (though I still think about them a lot), and I'm more worried about newer things like how can I constructively integrate technology and in what ways is my classroom an equitable learning environment?

There are two things I worry about now that I worry about every time I'm in a new school or a new place. 1) Where's the bathroom and how long do I have? 2) How complicated is the schedule and how often am I going to screw it up?

Number one, while perhaps suited for #WeirdEd (I bet there are DM conversations amongst stuffy teachers to that effect, no this isn't a subtweet, just a guess), is not the topic this week. Number two is. Let's talk scheduling.

Every school is different and every year making the schedule sounds like an utter nightmare. I have no idea the contortions that must happen to make however many classrooms fit into time blocks that allow everyone to go to recess, eat lunch, stick to the contract, have whatever specials your school gets, and do 90 minutes of literacy and 60 minutes of math. I'm dizzy just thinking about making that plan.

Following it, when you're new, is no easier. Sure, it seems easy if you've been there for a while. "No, this is an A week and on A weeks at this time you go to Music. If this were a B week or a Wednesday you'd go to either PE or computer lab. Unless there's a full moon or only 29 days in the month. In that case locusts. Oh wait no, that's the schedule we sent out last week. We had to fix that, don't you have the new one?"

I want to be clear here that I love my new school and it's not at all the giant pain in the ass this blog post makes it seem. Hyperbole is funny, kids. *waves to anyone I work with who might be reading this*

So we're going to talk scheduling this week. Which means I get to do something most other chats do (I hear) and I've never done*. I'm going to schedule my tweets. Every single tweet that comes from my account between 7 and 8pst will be scheduled. I will not be live at all in the least. This serves two purposes-

One- It works with the theme. And I love it when a theme comes together.

Two- I just moved into a new house and it sounds like we aren't going to get internet for approximately seven years, according to the internet provider, if that name can be properly applied to them. Moderating #WeirdEd from my phone sounds like a nightmare. So I'll be there but I won't be there.

*I don't schedule tweets because #WeirdEd is too lively and creative to do that. I don't want us to be locked in to one timing in case something pops unexpectedly. Not cutting on moderators who schedule, but it's not how our chat works.