Choosing the Date and Time for Intervention Tasks

Choosing a date and time sounds trivial until a session lands on testing day or a prep task is due after the session it supports. A little thought about timing prevents most schedule problems. Here is how to choose sensible dates and times for sessions and the tasks around them.

Sessions: anchor them to the agreed plan

Session timing should come from your team’s agreed frequency and duration, and from the master schedule. Once you know a group meets, say, on certain weekdays at 9:30 AM, enter each of those dates individually for the next few weeks. Consistent times help students and colleagues build routine.

Before saving, check the school calendar for assemblies, testing windows, trips, holidays and early dismissals. It’s easier to move a session now than on the morning it clashes.

Preparation: work backwards from the session

Ask when the prep must be finished, then pick a time before that with some slack:

• Copies and printed materials: one to two school days before, because copiers break and queues happen.
• Gathering manipulatives or resources: the afternoon before.
• Setting up a space: just before the session, but include it in your transition time.
• Reviewing the lesson plan: the day before, when you can still change it.

Never date a prep task on the same slot as the session it supports. If the only time available is “right before”, that’s a sign the prep needs to move earlier.

Follow-up: soon, but realistic

Schedule follow-up while details are fresh: the same day for recording delivery in your school’s system, within a day or two for updates to colleagues. Small, specific follow-up tasks are far more likely to happen than “catch up on admin” at the end of the week.

How RTI Scheduler handles time

• Local clock time. The time you type is saved exactly. 9:30 AM stays 9:30 AM on every device.
• No time zone conversion. If you work across zones, enter each task in the local time where it happens.
• No reminders. Check Today each morning and Upcoming when planning.
• Sorted by time. Tasks always appear in date and time order, so a task with a wrong date shows up in the wrong place. Check after saving.

When a session moves

When a session changes date or time, three things often need to move with it:

1. the preparation before it;
2. any follow-up after it;
3. other sessions that now clash.

Edit the session first, then check the day before and the day after in the week strip. Our guide to intervention task dependencies covers this in more detail, and the manual conflict check helps you catch clashes.

Quick rules

• Sessions follow the agreed plan and the school calendar.
• Prep is dated one to two days ahead, never in the same slot.
• Follow-up happens the same day or soon after.
• When one task moves, check its neighbours.