VSB Debuts FIT Planner at David Thompson

Photo Credit: VSB

The Vancouver School Board (VSB) is debuting a Flexible Instructional Time (FIT) planner that is currently being tested at David Thompson Secondary School.

FIT gives students a chance to meet with teachers for extra help and support outside their regular class schedule. Students also have the opportunity to use this time to collaborate with peers, work on group projects, or study for tests. 

The FIT planner is an app where students sign up for a FIT class in an appropriate learning space. Teachers use the FIT planner to record attendance to ensure that students are present in the class they signed up for. An email will be sent home to a student’s parents if the student does not show up for FIT, as well as if they signed up for a FIT class but did not show up.

A student from David Thompson told The Nest that the “new FIT app is not bad” and that it was a good way for them to know where to go for FIT and which teacher to find to get their work done. They liked that the FIT planner is advanced, and that they can plan out which classes and teachers they want to go to instead of thinking about which class to go to at the last minute. 

However, the student from David Thompson partly disliked the FIT planner because students are not able to sign up for a class at the last minute, as classes can reach full capacity. They also think that the new system may be slower to use compared to the one from last year, which was easier for them to just log in, scroll to find the teacher’s availability, and then sign up. 

The old system, they said, has a more stable browser that has worked fine throughout the past years. Additionally, the policy is less limiting than this year’s, as students could decide that they don’t want to go to a class or get help from a teacher. Students would leave school or walk around the hallways instead.

The app’s goal is to allow students to improve their learning in FIT time by asking teachers questions or seeking extra support for upcoming work. This system is still being tested at David Thompson this year, and feedback from both students and teachers will help decide whether it becomes a permanent part of the FIT policy.