What hour is it?

    We have been back in school for three days after having a two week break. I have heard the questions, "What hour is it?" and "Where should I be now?" about three thousand times. There are several reasons these questions have been asked, but the main one is that we have an insane A,B,C block schedule. What does this mean? It means that my students stay confused even during normal weeks about where they are supposed to be (I am usually confused also). So on Mondays we go to all 8 classes and the classes are about 40 minutes each, but on Tuesday and Thursday we have 1st,3rd,5th, and 7th hours and the classes about about 90 minutes long and then on Wednesdays and Fridays we have 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 8th hour classes, except if it is short week, which then changes the whole thing yet again. Oh and we have advisory on Mondays and sometimes on Tuesdays. Confused yet? Me too. So we came back from break on a Wednesday, but we were on C schedule instead of B. Whatever. Don't ask me where you are supposed to be I have no idea. Why do I have no idea? Well, we also started a new semester on Wednesday, so everyone schedules changed, which means that the neat, organized schedule binder I made last semester is now totally obsolete. Wait... I know I can look up their schedules on the computer. Nope. Computer system is down. Super. This means that I have no clue where the kids are supposed to be or who is supposed to be in my class. Awesome!
Well we managed to make it through three days. Eventually (two days later) the computer system began working correctly. However, will any of us ever figure out this block schedule? Probably not. Students on the spectrum generally crave consistency and like to know what to expect. This constant changing of the schedule just heightens their worry and anxiety. Hopefully one day I will have a say so in the bell schedule. Until then, I will continue to be asked "What hour is it?" each day, no matter how many schedule charts I hang up or how many personal schedules I color code.