Block Fast Loader

Video How-to

Block Fast Loader Overview video

This method of scheduling is used when a group of students have the same schedule throughout the day. You will need to have the Master Schedule complete before beginning. You will also need to know into which sections each group of students will be scheduled. This information can be entered into the Master Schedule to facilitate the scheduling process.

Steps for scheduling students using Block Fast Loader

1. Create/complete the Master Schedule.
2. Edit Master Schedule to identify groups of students per grade level.
3. Create teacher blocks with schedule records for a particular group of students.
4. Schedule students using automatic process or manual process.

How to

1. Log in to WebPams
2. Select Scheduling from the program list on the left
3. Click on Loaders
4. Select Block Fast Loader

Set up Box

1. Verify Year, District, and School. These default values are based on your security settings.
2. Select Grade. Leave the Grade field blank if all grade levels are to be included. Otherwise click in the box to the right of “Grade” to select the desired grade level(s) to be included. With Block Fast Loader you will usually select one grade to work with at a time.
3. Select the As-of-Date. This represents active students as of the date you choose. It usually defaults to the current date.
4. Click the check box to Save Schedules as Manually Scheduled to prevent an automatic scheduling process from overwriting schedules created through the Block Fast Loader.
5. Click OK to move to the next screen.

Definitions of the Buttons at the bottom of the screen

Delete Block – deletes currently selected block

New Block – creates a block of classes for a teacher not assigned a block

Change Block – change header information about a teacher

Schedule – schedules all selected students to the selected teacher’s block

Print--prints either the list of block with header information or prints the block detail list of courses

Setup--returns to the setup box to change group of students to be scheduled.

Select All Students – Checks all students` names

De-Select All Students – Removes any checks by student names

Processes found under the Action button

1. Master Schedule--Displays the Master Schedule Editor
2. Reschedule Blocks--Allows you to reschedule students already assigned to blocks. This is used if classes have been added to or removed from a block.
3. Single Course--Allows you to add a single class to all of the students in the same block. This does not change the block.
4. Clear Student Block Numbers--This clears just the block number. NO schedules will be changed. You will NOT be able to auto-restore the assigned block numbers. Be certain this is what you want to do before clicking the button labeled 'YES'.
5. Alternating Student Scheduling--Automatic scheduling method that assigns students to schedules in an alternating fashion.
6. Sequential Student Scheduling--This method of scheduling students divides the students in groups (i.e. the first twenty students alphabetically are placed in the same block, the next twenty students are placed in the next block, etc.)
7. Capability Student Scheduling--The GPA for students is used to assign students to the blocks. (i.e. Each white female with an 'A' average is assigned to a different block, then the program assigns each black female with an 'A' average to a different block, etc. working through all GPA ethnic groups.)
8. IOWA Test Scores Student Scheduling---Similar to GPA scheduling except it uses IOWA test scores. Scores must first be imported into WebPams before using this method.
9. Initialize Block Counts--Updates counts of students scheduled into the different blocks; it also updates counts in the Master Schedule Editor.
10. Realign Blocks to Master Schedule--Compares information related to each section number found in the Block Fast Loader to the section numbers in the Master Schedule Editor. If any information is different, the block information is updated.

Edit the Master Schedule to identify the student groups for each schedule record

This is optional, but can make the process of course selection easier for schools with 2 or more groups of students per grade level. For example, this will prevent students in two groups from all being scheduled into the same section of a teacher's Language class which would make it look like the teacher is instructing 60 students instead of two groups of 30.

To edit the Master Schedule Editor click in the comment field beside each course and enter either the Homeroom teacher's name or a section designation such as 1A, 1B, 1C, etc. In the setup box for Master Schedule Editor you can restrict the display to include one grade only. This will provide a smaller group of courses and teachers to which group indicators are to be assigned.

After assigning group indicators to the Master Schedule Editor, return to the Block Fast Loader to complete the scheduling process.

Video How-to

Block Fast Loader - Create, Delete and Change video

Creating Blocks

1. Select the New Block button
2. Click in the block name field. The name can be a teacher's name or some other indicator such as 1A, 1B, etc. If using a teacher's name select from the list that appears. If using some other indicator close the teacher list and type the name of your choice.
3. If you select a teacher's name for the block name, the same name will automatically appear in the Homeroom teacher field; otherwise, you will need to click in the homeroom teacher's name field and make the selection from the teacher list.
4. Verify the grade. This value will be used to limit the Master Schedule display when selecting courses for each block.
5. Click Save New.
6. The schedule window will automatically appear. You can not save a new block without entering at least one class record.
7. The schedule window will show 2 semesters if the school is a 2x8 school or it will show 4 semesters if the school is a 4x4 school. Click under Semester 1 on the any blank line and the Master Schedule will appear.
8. Rearrange the Master Schedule to move the grade column to be visible. (This will save time.) And sort the Master Schedule by Grade for ease of finding the group of courses for the grade level of the block being created.
9. You may get a pop up that indicates the class period you have selected on the schedule maintenance screen is not the class period of the course selected. Click OK.
10. If the Semester 1 section selected is already in another block, you will get a pop up that allows you to either continue and use it or to cancel. If you click no the window changes back to the schedule maintenance screen. Repeat the selection process to enter a course not found in another block. If you click yes the same pop up will appear for Semester 2; click yes again.
11. Repeat the process from step 7 above until all courses in which a particular group of students will receive a grade.
12. Close the Schedule Maintenance window with the X at the top right of the window.

To Delete a Block

1. Select the block on the right to be deleted by selecting the check box to the left of the block number.
2. Then click the delete button at the bottom left. A confirmation pop up will appear. If the block number in the pop up is correct then click YES. If it is incorrect, click No and select the correct block number.

To Change/edit an existing block

1. Select the block on the right to be changed by selecting the check box to the left of the block number.
2. Then click the change block button at the bottom. Correct the necessary information and click save changes.

Video How-to

Block Fast Loader - Manual Scheduling video

How to use the Schedule button for scheduling students

After creating/editing blocks you are now ready to schedule students. You will need to decide whether you will use the manual method of scheduling or the automatic method.

Manual Scheduling Method You will need to have created the rosters of each homeroom group for a grade before beginning the scheduling of students in that grade. Follow the steps below to manually schedule students.

1. On the setup box select the grade of the students that you want to schedule. This will limit the list of students that will be displayed on the left side of the screen.
2. For students in the same homeroom, click the check box to the left of their name on the left side of the screen.
3. Select the homeroom teacher on the right side of the screen by clicking the check box to the left of the Blk number.
4. Click the Schedule button at the bottom of the screen.
5. A confirmation question will appear on the screen. If this is the correct block, grade, and homeroom teacher click Yes.
6. After the scheduling is complete the screen will refresh. The block number and the homeroom teacher name will be filled in on the left side of the screen.
7. Repeat the process for each homeroom group of students.

Automatic Scheduling Method There are four methods of Automatic scheduling in the Block Fast Loader. Each method will use all available blocks for each grade.

Alternating Student Scheduling--This method takes the alphabetical list of students and "deals" them out to each available block.

Sequential Student Scheduling--This method divides the students equally among the available homerooms. For example: 100 students divided among 4 homerooms would put 25 students into each homeroom. The first 25 will be assigned to the same homeroom; students 26-50 will be assigned to the next homeroom; etc.

Capability Student Scheduling--This method uses the GPA from the previous year of each student . The process will divide the students among the homerooms according to gender groups within ethnic groups within GPA groups. The system will schedule all students with an A first. Scheduling black females, white females, black males, white males, etc through all of the ethnic groups. It will then start with all student that have a B using each gender within each ethnic group. The process will continue until all GPA groups have been scheduled.

IOWA Test Scores Student Scheduling--This method requires IOWA test scores to be imported into WebPams. The scheduling process is similar to Capability scheduling. Groups of students are scheduled according to ethnic groups within gender groups withing an IOWA test score range.

Video How-to

Block Fast Loader-Alternate Scheduling video

To schedule students using Alternating Student Scheduling use the following steps.

1. All blocks for a grade level must be created before you can use this method.
2. On the setup box select the grade of the students that you want to schedule. This will limit the list of students that will be displayed on the left side of the screen.
3. Click the Action button at the top right. Select Alternating Student Scheduling.
4. A popup will appear cautioning you about scheduling students once grades and assignments have been posted.
5. Click Yes.
6. A popup will appear in which you must verify the Year, District and School. Select the Grade and whether to clear and replace block schedules or add blocks to existing schedules.
7. Click the start auto schedule button.
8. A final confirmation question will appear. Respond Yes if you want to continue with the scheduling process. Respond No if you do not want to continue to schedule students.
9. If the system finds sections that are no longer in the Master Schedule a message listing the missing sections will appear on the screen. Corrections needs to be done using the Edit/Change an existing block instructions found in the instructions above. These missing sections have not been included on student schedules. Click OK.
10. When the scheduling is complete counts in the Block Fast Loader and in the Master Schedule Editor will be updated to reflect the new counts.

To schedule students using Sequential Student Scheduling use the following steps.

1. All blocks for a grade level must be created before you can use this method.
2. On the setup box select the grade of the students that you want to schedule. This will limit the list of students that will be displayed on the left side of the screen.
3. Click the Action button at the top right. Select Sequential Student Scheduling.
4. A popup will appear cautioning you about scheduling students once grades and assignments have been posted.
5. Click Yes.
6. A popup will appear in which you must verify the Year, District and School. Select the Grade and whether to clear and replace block schedules or add blocks to existing schedules.
7. Click the start auto schedule button.
8. A final confirmation question will appear. Respond Yes if you want to continue with the scheduling process. Respond No if you do not want to continue to schedule students.
9. If the system finds sections that are no longer in the Master Schedule a message listing the missing sections will appear on the screen. Correcting this needs to be done using the Edit/Change an existing block instructions found in the instructions above. These missing sections have not been included on student schedules. Click OK.
10. When the scheduling is complete counts in the Block Fast Loader and in the Master Schedule Editor will be updated to reflect the new counts.

To schedule students using Capability Student Scheduling use the following steps.

1. All blocks for a grade level must be created before you can use this method.
2. On the setup box select the grade of the students that you want to schedule. This will limit the list of students that will be displayed on the left side of the screen.
3. Click the Action button at the top right. Select Capability Student Scheduling.
4. A popup will appear cautioning you about scheduling students once grades and assignments have been posted.
5. Click Yes.
6. A popup will appear in which you must verify the Year, District and School. Select the Grade and whether to clear and replace block schedules or add blocks to existing schedules.
7. Click the Display Cap Grid (display capability grid) button at the bottom of the screen.
8. A new screen will appear that has a capability grid on the left and the list of blocks for the specific grade level being scheduled on the right.
9. Select the blocks to be used by clicking the check box to the left of the block number.
10. Click the Start Auto Schedule button at the bottom of the screen.
11. A final confirmation question will appear. Respond Yes if you want to continue with the scheduling process. Respond No if you do not want to continue to schedule students.
12. If the system finds sections that are no longer in the Master Schedule a message listing the missing sections will appear on the screen. Corrections needs to be done using the Edit/Change an existing block instructions found in the instructions above. These missing sections have not been included on student schedules. Click OK.
13. When the scheduling is complete counts in the Block Fast Loader and in the Master Schedule Editor will be updated to reflect the new counts.

To schedule students using IOWA Test Score Student Scheduling use the following steps.

1. All blocks for a grade level must be created before you can use this method.
2. On the setup box select the grade of the students that you want to schedule. This will limit the list of students that will be displayed on the left side of the screen.
3. Click the Action button at the top right. Select IOWA Test Score Student Scheduling.
4. A popup will appear cautioning you about scheduling students once grades and assignments have been posted.
5. Click Yes.
6. A popup will appear in which you must verify the Year, District and School. Select the Grade and whether to clear and replace block schedules or add blocks to existing schedules.
7. Select the testing range. The range is the grouping of IOWA percentiles from 0-100. The available ranges are set in percentile increments based on the value in this field. A selected score of 25 will give you four groups: 0-25, 26-50, 51-75, and 76-100. If you manually enter a score of 7, the lowest range will be 0-7 and the next range upper range value will be 14 followed by 21, etc till the upper range is 100.
8. Click the Display State Scores Grid button at the bottom of the screen.
9. A new screen will appear that has a IOWA Test Score grid on the left and the list of blocks for the specific grade level being scheduled on the right.
10. Select the blocks to be used by clicking the check box to the left of the block number.
11. Click the Start Auto Schedule button at the bottom of the screen.
12. A final confirmation question will appear. Respond Yes if you want to continue with the scheduling process. Respond No if you do not want to continue to schedule students.
13. If the system finds sections that are no longer in the Master Schedule a message listing the missing sections will appear on the screen. Correcting this needs to be done using the Edit/Change an existing block instructions found in the instructions above. These missing sections have not been included on student schedules. Click OK.
14. When the scheduling is complete counts in the Block Fast Loader and in the Master Schedule Editor will be updated to reflect the new counts.

To reschedule/move scheduled students

If you realize after students have been scheduled that a change needs to be made to a block, then a reschedule process needs to be done.

1. Edit the block(s) according to the instructions above.
2. After editing the block(s) click the Action button at the top right and select Reschedule Blocks. A popup describing the rescheduling process will appear. Click OK.
3. Another popup will appear for a second verification that you want to reschedule students. Click Yes.
4. The list of blocks will appear on the screen. Or you can select only those blocks that have been changed by clicking the check box at the left of the block number. You can reschedule all students by clicking the Select All button at the bottom of the screen.
5. After making your selection, click the Schedule button at the bottom of the screen.
6. A confirmation question will appear. If you respond Yes, the students in the selected block(s) will be rescheduled. If you respond No, the question will go away and you will need to close the list of blocks on the screen with the X at the top right of the block window.
7. After the rescheduling process is complete you will need to close the list of blocks on the screen with the X at the top left of the block window.

If you want to move a student from one block to another block, then the individual student can be rescheduled.

1. Click by the name of the student(s) that need to be moved. Each student selected must be moving to the same block.
2. Check off the block on the right of the screen to which you are moving this student or group of students.
3. Click the Schedule button at the bottom of the screen.
4. A popup will appear with a confirmation question. Click Yes if you want to proceed with the change. Click No if you do not want to proceed.
5. A caution will appear that warning you about rescheduling students after assignments and grades have been posted.
6. A confirmation question will appear. If you respond Yes, the students in the selected block(s) will be rescheduled. If you respond No, the question will go away and you will need to close the list of blocks on the screen with the X at the top right of the block window.