6 th Annual Focus Users’ Conference 6 th Annual Focus Users’ Conference Elementary Scheduling Presented by: Sara Sayasane Presented by: Sara Sayasane

Agenda What we are covering in this session Subject, Courses and Sections Setup o Subject Setup o Course Setup Packaging o Parent/Child o Building the Package o Scheduling Students into the Package Specials o Determine the rotation o Building Sections o Add to the Package 2

Subject, Courses and Sections Setup 3

Scheduling Subjects The subjects can be created for a school’s specific needs. It is simply a way to organize the courses for quick navigation. To access Subjects, Courses, and Sections, click the Scheduling Menu and select Courses & Sections. 4

Scheduling Subject Setup Subjects are used to organize courses and are created to accommodate specific school needs. In the Subjects list, click the + (plus sign), at the bottom of the list, to add a new subject. Enter a Title and Short Name for the newly created Subject. When complete, click the Save button. Note: Focus recommends that Subjects be set up and named by grade level for elementary and subject area for secondary levels. 5

Scheduling Course Setup Courses align with the Course Catalog and are associated with state and district approved course numbers. Schools are not able to create their own courses for State Reporting purposes. Within the courses, sections are assigned where the teacher, period, minutes, etc are defined. Courses can be placed in any subject desired. Note: as per state reporting guidelines, state approved courses have a defined number of digits and schools cannot create their own courses but districts are able to add an additional digits for identification purposes. 6

Scheduling Moving Courses Districts file all courses in the All Courses Subject folder. Therefore, Courses should be moved into their respective Subject folders. From the Course list, click the course that is to be moved into a different Subject folder. Use the Subject pull-down in the upper right to select the appropriate subject folder. Once changed, the Save button will turn red; click it to finalize the change. Note: in the above screenshots, the course HOMEROOM was moved from All Courses into the New Grade subject folder. Note: from year to year, the setup for Subjects & Courses will be rolled over and all that may be necessary is adjusting any new or deleted courses. 7

Scheduling Adding Courses When adding a new course, add it based on Courses found in the Course Catalog. From the Course list, click the + at the bottom of the column. Use the Course Number text field in the upper left to locate a specific course. As numbers are typed, a list of corresponding courses matching the numbers will be shown. Simply click the desired course or enter the full course number. Select the Subject pull down in the upper right to place the new course in the appropriate subject folder. Click the Save button upon completion. 8

Packaging Sections 9

Scheduling Packaging Sections Package Scheduling ties multiple sections together for ease in scheduling (also referred to as “Parenting”). The Homeroom section is identified as the Parent Section. All other sections assigned to the teacher are called the Child Sections—this includes Specials. It is worth noting that there are two possible approaches to creating packages for scheduling: via Section information or within the Teacher Schedules Report. Note: before creating a package, ensure the Homeroom section is setup as well as all grade level sections, including Specials. Section Information Approach Within the Child Section, locate the Parent Section field found in the bottom right corner of the Section information module and click directly on the underlined word Choose. Note: the Parent Section should be set for every section except the one that is considered the “parent” for the package 10

Scheduling This will open a separate popup browser window resembling the Courses & Sections screen. Select the desired Subject, Course, and Section that will serve as the Parent Section. Note: remember, the Parent is typically a HOMEROOM section. 11

Scheduling Upon defining a Parent Section, the popup browser window closes automatically and the Parent Section field now displays the newly associated Child Section, as evidenced in the screenshot below. Confirm the new Parent Section is accurate by clicking the Save button. Conversely, the Child Section will also reflect that it is housed within the Parent Section. 12

Scheduling As additional courses are packaged, the This section is the parent of list will grow and display all packaged sections associated with the Parent Section. Note: the Child Sections will be arranged according to period number. 13

Scheduling Teacher Schedules Report Approach Focus recommends working from the Teacher Schedules Report to set up packages, as teachers and sections are easily identified from within the report; this, in turn, may simplify the Parenting process. To access this report, click the Scheduling Menu and select Teacher Schedules Report. All teachers will be listed in the left column with their classes, broken down by period, to the right. Note: sections in red identify potential scheduling conflicts, such as multiple periods scheduled during the same class period. 14

Scheduling Identify a section (the “child section”) that will be assigned to a Parent Section and click the underlined section name. For example, when selecting Shafira Brewer’s 2 nd period Handwriting class a new popup browser window opens containing the Section information for Mrs. Brewer’s Handwriting class. 15

Scheduling Click the underlined word Choose, in the lower right corner, to open another popup window from which to choose the Parent Section. Select the Subject, Course and Section for Shafira Brewer’s Homeroom. 16

Scheduling Upon choosing the Parent Section, the popup window closes automatically, displaying the Section information window with the newly selected Parent Section. Verify that the change has been made and is correct and press the red Save button. As per the screenshot below, notice that HOMEROOM: Period Shafira Brewer is now shown to be the Parent Section Note: repeat this process for all sections that need to be associated with a Parent Section—including Specials. 17

Scheduling As additional sections are associated with the Parent Section, all Child Sections will be listed in the Section information of the Parent. In looking at Mrs. Brewer’s HOMEROOM class, she now has a full schedule including the Handwriting section that was recently added. 18

Scheduling Scheduling with Packages – Elementary Level For one student Click + Add a Section Select the HR section All Child sections will be scheduled 19

Scheduling Scheduling with Packages – Elementary Level For a HR class of students Select Mass Assign Course Select the HR section All Child sections will be listed along with the Parent section Select the students and click to add sections to selected students 20

Specials 21

Specials Specials/Block Scheduling Many schools have their Specials on a rotation or block schedule. In order to utilize block scheduling, be sure that Calendars, Periods, and System Preferences are all properly setup. Determine the number of rotation days and which rotation day each section should be linked to. To start, open the Section information of the class that will serve as the Child Section by navigating through the Courses & Sections screen. Note: in the following example Mr. Nathaniel Stevenson’s New Grade, General Music class will serve as the blocked Special 22

Scheduling 1.Looking at the Section information, identify the three fields that will need to be setup. 2.First, select the Rotation Day for which the section will be assigned. 3.Second, set the Calendar to the applicable Block Calendar. 4.Third, click the underlined word Choose to select the Parent Section for the current section. Once all three options have been applied, click the red Save button. 5.Please leave all days of the week checked as the rotation day will vary based on the week. Note: notice that the Music class will be set to Rotation Day D on the Block Calendar. 23

Scheduling For better organization in Specials, the Short Name field can be utilized to identify the HOMEROOM teacher that is associated with the section. Ultimately, this makes it easier for the Specials teacher to keep track of where students are coming from and going to. Note: from the Specials teacher’s courses drop-down, the Short Name will also help by displaying the HOMEROOM teacher’s name. 24

Scheduling Upon clicking Choose, to set the Parent Section, a popup browser window will open. Navigate to the desired section that will serve as the Parent and click the underlined section. Note: moving forward in the example, choose the New Grade, TBA 2 HOMEROOM section to serve as the Parent. 25

Scheduling Once the Parent is selected, the popup window closes automatically and the Parent Section is shown. Note: as per the previous step’s selection, Mr. Stevenson’s General Music class now appears set to the correct Rotation Day and Calendar; it is also shown as being the Child Section of TBA 2 HOMEROOM. Once all of the variables have been setup accordingly, click to finalize the packaging. Note: repeat this process for all Specials. 26

6 th Annual Focus Users’ Conference 6 th Annual Focus Users’ Conference Any Questions Contact Information Sara Sayasane Project Coordinator

Thank You Please be sure to complete the comment card for this session and enjoy the rest of the Users’ Conference! 28