You'll need to create a daily schedule, a written plan where you arrange blocks of time to squeeze in the myriad tasks you and your students must accomplish each day. You'll actually need two schedules: (1) one for your own use, to arrange personal adjuvant instructional time for such tasks as lesson planning, meeting with parents, grading papers, etc.; and (2) a second schedule for your actual instructional time, showing the times when you teach certain subjects, break times, etc. This schedule should be shared with students and parents.

Create your adjuvant instructional schedule first, and keep it in your lesson-plan book, on your classroom desk. As you create your schedule, don't forget to write a starting time that's one-half hour earlier than the start of the instructional day. Most schools do have such an “early arrival” provision as one of your specific job duties.

For example, assuming an instructional starting time of 8:00 a.m. — typical for many schools — begin your schedule at 7:30 a.m. Also, assuming a typical ending time of 3:00 p.m., schedule an additional half-hour for yourself after the kids leave. True, none of this extra work time is compensated, and that may seem unfair; but working somewhat late is normal for any professional job such as teaching, and you'll bless yourself for scheduling extra time each morning and each afternoon to clean up, plan, and prepare. Take a look at Table 2-1 on the following page for an example of what your adjuvant instructional schedule might look like.

TABLE 2-1 DAILY ADJUVANT INSTRUCTIONAL SCHEDULE

Remember, change anything in Table 2-1 that doesn't meet your specific needs, times, or procedures — it's all exemplary, not mandatory. After you've created your adjuvant instructional schedule, it's time to write your daily instructional schedule — the times and activities that you and your students will adhere to during the instructional day.

Your daily instructional schedule will probably vary from those of your teacher-colleagues who work in other districts, owing to widely differing starting times, lunch periods, recess periods, ending times, and grade levels taught. Also, different states may have different requirements as to the number of instructional minutes teachers must devote to particular academic subjects. Keep all this in mind as you devise a schedule that's right for you. Then, keep your schedule in your lesson-plan book, along with your adjuvant schedule. Look at Table 2-2 for an example of what your daily instructional schedule might look like.

TABLE 2-2 DAILY INSTRUCTI ONAL SCHEDULE

After you've created your daily instructional schedule, make two copies for every student — one for the student and another for her parents — and distribute them no later than the first day of instruction. Also, don't forget to make an oversized chart of your instructional schedule, then laminate and post it in a prominent place in the classroom. That way, students, administrators, teaching colleagues, and visitors (parents, school-board members, the superintendent) will be able to see at a glance what you're doing and when you're doing it.