I’m finalizing our 2025 PD plan and need a model that meets MACTE-aligned goals without pulling three guides from rooms at once. Considering one Friday early-release per month (1:00–3:30), plus two Saturday labs per semester with $150 stipends and shared subs for observations — has this worked for your teams, and how are you tracking hours (we’re piloting Airtable)?
has this worked for your teams, and how are you tracking hours (we’re piloting Airtable)? We set a monthly float team (two trained assistants plus one admin) to cover the early-release block so only one guide per level leaves at a time, and used one Airtable form per session with prefilled guide names; an automation rolled up hours by MACTE strand for transcripts. Small caveat: Saturday labs only stayed popular when we offered a late-start Monday as comp — would that fly at your site?
My take: I’d lean toward the simplest next step and see if it changes anything this week — if not, you’ve got a clear case to escalate. What would block you from trying that?
I’d stagger the ‘1:00–3:30’ Fridays by level — EC one month, LE next — so you never pull three guides at once and still hit MACTE goals. Keep the two Saturday labs with the $150, but make one a virtual practicum tied to a quick Airtable form (MACTE strand + minutes) and an automation that flags anyone under 12 hours/quarter; just double-check your MACTE policy on virtual hours. Curious if staggering by level or a hybrid lab made coverage easier on your float team, @carrie_lynne93.
We’ve had success booking a rotating “specialist block” (PE/music/art vendors 12:30–3:30) on early-release days so guides step out in pairs while rooms stay open, and we track hours with Toggl Track (Toggl Track: Time Tracking Software for Any Workflow) feeding an Airtable rollup; tiny caveat — Friday timing spiked pickups, so we shifted to first Wednesdays. @jason_wright56 would this mesh with your stagger?
We swapped to a three-morning cadence — 7:30–8:15 Tue–Thu once a month — assistants handle arrival while one guide at a time rotates to PD, so rooms stay open. For hours, a QR at the door opens an Airtable form prefilled with session + MACTE tags and an automation rolls up totals and pings anyone under goal (Getting started with Airtable automations); @avagonz do you flag partial credits the same way?
Quick tweak that’s worked for us is a ‘bank-and-release’ cycle: guides bank 30–45 minutes of coaching/observation during rest/independent work over six weeks, then the Friday early-release is for synthesis and cross-level share, so no triple pull. For hours, we create calendar-based PD events that push duration to Airtable via Zapier and attach a short competency tag aligned to MACTE; it’s like saving minutes in a jar. I can share a tag template if helpful.
One tweak I’d try is a level‑rep model: send one guide per level to each PD block, then require a 25‑minute teach‑back with a simple artifact that also counts toward hours — like passing the peace candle for PD. In Airtable, tag each session to the MACTE strand/competency, roll up hours per person, and auto-request mentor verification when an artifact link is added; quick reference: https://www.macte.org. Saturdays are great for labs, but consider swapping one for a short midweek virtual sprint to reduce fatigue.
Would splitting that Friday “1:00–3:30” into two tracks (1:00–2:05 and 2:20–3:30) work with your shared subs? We pair that with Saturday labs plus a 45‑minute video+artifact make‑up so folks who miss still hit MACTE outcomes. In Airtable, a single Sessions table with an automation that emails weekly hours by category has kept us tidy; the $150 stipend works, but we cap labs at two per semester to avoid OT creep.