💡 What are Flex Periods?
Schools call flex periods by a variety of names... advisory, "Eagle Time," Power Hour, W.I.N. (What I Need) Time and more. Regardless of the name, the intent is the same:
Teachers have flexible rosters and can offer a variety of activities or academic supports for students.
Students can schedule where they want to go for activities or seek specific supports based on their needs.
Once your SmartPass admins configure the available Flex Periods, you can schedule your teacher-specific activities that will occur during the available times. Activities can be set to occur during all or only some of the available Flex Periods throughout the week depending upon your needs and offerings.
Creating a Flex Activity
In your teacher account, click on Schedule Pass
You will be moved to your calendar tab and a pop-up window will open to schedule an activity or a pass
In the scheduling section
Select the Flex Period you want to create an activity for
Title your activity
Configure your options (see below for details on the options)
Click Schedule
You're done setting up your Flex Activity!
In the example below, Mr. Keating is setting up his Book Club activity to occur Monday and Wednesday during Bronco Block. You can see that he makes sure it's a public event for students to be able to select it, sets the days for only Monday and Wednesday (SmartPass only schedules up to three weeks out so it's easier for you), and limits the number of students.
Flex Activity Options
Public vs. Private Events - can students sign up for the event themselves using the scheduling feature on their calendar or do you have to set your roster yourself
Max Capacity - how many students do you want to have attend your Flex Activity? Unlimited? A small number for academic support?
Repeats - do you want to offer the same activity every Flex Period or only selected ones?
Location - are you in your classroom or another location? Where should students go for the Flex Period?
Adding Students to Activities
In your teacher calendar tab, click on any scheduled Flex Activity for the date you want to schedule students for
Once the pop-up window opens, if there are remaining student spots available, click on add student
To add a student you want to assign the Flex Activity to, you can:
Search for and select the individual student(s)
Select a pre-created student group
Upload a list of students using a CSV of their email addresses
💡 A Few Notes:
If a student is already in another Flex Activity, this will be indicated next to their name.
You can reschedule and override student-selected activities
Teachers cannot reschedule or override other teachers' student selections
Only Admins can reschedule teachers' student selections
Editing Your Flex Roster
If you add the incorrect student, or want to change your scheduled roster, you can hover over the green check mark to the right of the student's name then delete them from your roster. Just make sure you wait a moment while the roster updates or you'll get an error when trying to delete the student a second time.
You can also schedule for other days, by clicking clicking on the arrow next to the date then selecting the next date you want to schedule students for.
Check out how Mr. Keating is able to schedule Book Club for some of his students, and edit his club roster, in this quick video:
Deleting Sessions and Activities
If you are no longer holding your flex activity for the day, or even at all in the future you can delete it.
Deleting a session allows you to take away that specific day's event. To do, head to the event on the calendar, and click to open it. In the top right click the 3 dots next to the date. Click Delete Session.
Deleting the activity allows you to remove the session entirely for all future events. You will first need to delete any sessions with enrolled students to prevent any issues with passes. Once done, proceed to delete the activity itself. To do, head to the event on the calendar, and click to open it. In the top middle click the 3 dots to the right of the activity name. Click Delete Activity.
FAQ
Can I edit an existing Flex Activity?
Teachers and Admins can only edit student rosters and/or delete sessions. Things like location, Max Capacity, Public Event indicator, Flex Period, or Activity name cannot be edited.
Can I set a specific roster for every Flex Activity?
Rosters need to be added for each session. We recommend creating a student group for repeating rosters so you can easily add them to each session.
To learn more about student groups, click on the following link: Student Groups
Can you add students who are in encounter prevention groups to the same Flex Activity?
Yes, you can.
Can students change a teacher's Flex Activity selection for them?
No, students can only change their own activity selections.
Can a teacher override another teacher's student assignment to a Flex Activity?
No, only admins can change a student's assignment to a Flex Activity once a teacher has added a student to their roster.
Can admins adjust Flex Activity rosters?
Yes, admins can make changes to all Flex Activity rosters.