Teacher Troubleshooting Guide (for Admins)

This guide provides solutions to common issues involving teacher access, conference schedules, passwords, appointment availability, and teacher information in the pickAtime Parent-Teacher Conference Scheduler.
Most of these troubleshooting steps are intended for school administrators.
1. Teacher Login and Access
How do teachers view their conference schedules?
Teachers can access their schedules by logging in at pickatime.com or through their school's scheduling link.
Log in using the email address associated with your teacher account.
On the Reports / Event Reports page, select the appropriate conference from the Event dropdown.
From the Report dropdown, select Teachers' Schedule.
To include available time slots as well as booked appointments, select Show All Slots.
Teachers with standard Appointment Viewer access can view only their own schedules.
A teacher is also a parent. Why do they see the parent scheduling page instead of their teaching schedule?
Teachers who are also parents at the school are initially directed to the parent scheduling page.
To access their teaching schedule:
Log in to pickAtime.
Select the Admin UI link on the left-hand side.
Navigate to Reports / Event Reports.
Select the appropriate event and the Teachers' Schedule report.
A teacher cannot view their schedule. How do I fix this?
In the Admin UI, go to Contacts and locate the teacher's contact record.
Verify the following:
Email Address: Confirm the teacher is logging in with the email address associated with their contact record.
Administrative Access: Confirm the teacher's Admin Level is set to Appointment Viewer.
Resource Access: Select the Vendor Access tab. Under Resource Access, confirm the checkbox next to the teacher's name is selected.
Teachers imported through the standard teacher import process are normally configured with the correct permissions. Teachers added manually may require these settings to be configured.
A teacher receives the message "You do not have access to any resource."
This message indicates that the teacher's account has not been granted access to their teaching schedule.
Go to Contacts, locate the teacher, and verify their Appointment Viewer and Resource Access settings as described above.
2. Teacher Passwords
A teacher has forgotten their password. What should they do?
The teacher can select Forgot Password on the pickAtime login page and follow the instructions to reset their password.
How can an administrator reset a teacher's password?
Go to Contacts in the Admin UI.
Search for the teacher.
Select the teacher's contact record.
Click Reset PW.
This resets the password to the account's configured default password.
How do I reset passwords for all teachers?
Go to Global Setup / Contacts.
Select Show Advanced Options.
Click Reset Admin Passwords.
Select Appointment Viewer as the access level to reset.
Important: This action affects all users with the selected access level. Confirm the intended users before proceeding.
Why is the Reset PW button unavailable for a teacher?
This can occur when the teacher's email address is also associated with a parent account at another school.
Have the teacher use the Forgot Password option. If the issue persists, contact support@pickatime.com.
3. Teacher Schedules and Appointments
Can I email teachers their conference schedules?
Yes. Administrators can email each teacher an individual schedule.
Go to Reports / Event Reports.
Select the appropriate conference event.
Select Teachers' Schedule from the Report dropdown.
Click Email Report.
Select the option to send the report to each teacher.
Each teacher receives their own appointment schedule.
How can a teacher see their available time slots as well as booked appointments?
On the Teachers' Schedule report, select Show All Slots.
This displays both booked appointments and available time slots, including blocked slots where applicable.
A teacher is unavailable. How do I cancel all their appointments?
Go to the Appointments List page.
Search for appointments in the appropriate event.
Sort the appointments by teacher using the Resource column.
Select the affected teacher's appointments.
Click Delete Selected.
Important: Review the selected appointments and the applicable cancellation notification settings before deleting them. If appointments need to be moved rather than canceled, consider rescheduling instead.
Why does the Admin UI display "Teacher not available"?
This indicates a scheduling conflict.
The teacher may already have an appointment at the selected time, either as a parent or as a member of a teaching team.
Review the teacher's existing appointments and team assignments before attempting to book another appointment.
Why is a teacher's time slot greyed out?
A grey slot displaying a message such as "An appointment has been booked with [teacher name] at this time" generally indicates a conflict involving the teacher contact assigned to that resource.
To investigate:
Go to Class Editor.
Select the affected teacher resource.
Choose Assign Contact/Team → Assign Contact.
Verify that the correct teacher contact is assigned.
Multiple resources associated with the same teacher contact cannot be booked simultaneously.
4. Teacher Availability and Blocked Slots
How do I block time on a teacher's schedule?
Administrators can make time slots unavailable using the Appointments page.
Go to Appointments.
Select the teacher and conference date.
Open Slots / Update Time Slots.
Select the appropriate time range.
Choose Make Unavailable.
Alternatively, slots can be deleted using Slots / Delete Time Slots.
Important: Blocking a slot preserves it as unavailable. Deleting a slot removes it and can affect existing appointments.
Can teachers block their own schedules?
By default, teachers have Appointment Viewer access, which allows them to view their schedules but not modify them.
Schools can provide additional access to allow teachers to manage their availability.
To enable this:
Go to Global Setup / Contacts.
Select Show Advanced Options.
Choose Modify Access Level.
Change the appropriate teachers from Appointment Viewer to Appointment Maker.
Teachers with the necessary permissions can use Block Schedule to manage their available time slots.
Important: Grant additional access only to teachers who need this functionality. Review the school's scheduling configuration before allowing teachers to make changes.
A teacher works at two schools. Why did blocking their schedule at one school also block it at the other?
If the same teacher contact is associated with multiple conference events, blocking a time slot in one event can also block the corresponding time in another event.
This prevents the teacher from being double-booked.
If the teacher should be unavailable at one school but available at another, delete the slots from the event where the teacher is unavailable rather than blocking them.
5. Teacher Information and Class Assignments
I imported teachers, but they are not appearing on the Appointments page.
Importing teachers creates their contact records, but they will not appear on the Appointments or Class Editor pages until classes have been imported and associated with them.
Verify that the class import has been completed and that the classes are associated with the correct teachers.
How do I correct the spelling of a teacher's name?
Go to Appointments.
Select the teacher.
From the Teachers dropdown, choose Assign Contact.
In the Select Person dialog, correct the teacher's name.
Click Select.
How do I change a teacher's room number?
Go to the Appointments page.
Locate the teacher and edit the room number in the field to the right of the teacher's name.
A teacher is being replaced by a long-term substitute. How do I update the teacher assignment?
If all of the original teacher's classes are being transferred to the substitute:
Go to Class Editor.
Select the teacher being replaced.
Choose Assign Contact/Team → Assign Contact.
Search for and select the substitute teacher.
Click Select.
Review the resulting teacher assignment and scheduling information to ensure the substitute is associated with the correct classes.
Why do I receive "Email address already exists, can't create duplicates" when adding a teacher?
The email address is already associated with an existing pickAtime contact record.
Go to Contacts, search for the email address, and review the existing record rather than creating a duplicate.
6. Teacher Notifications and Virtual Conferences
How do I stop teachers from receiving an email every time an appointment is booked?
Go to Settings / Notification / Resource Email Notification.
Uncheck For resources assigned to a contact, send appointment notification via email.
This disables the corresponding resource appointment notifications.
How do teachers find their virtual meeting links?
Teachers can access their conference information through Reports / Event Reports / Teachers' Schedule.
When virtual meeting links are configured and included in the report, they will appear with the relevant appointment information.
For Microsoft Teams integrations, newly generated links may take some time to appear. Verify that the integration and appointment slot types have been configured correctly.
7. Additional Troubleshooting
How do I create different appointment durations for different teachers?
Go to Appointments.
Select the teachers who need the same appointment duration.
Choose Slots / Create Slots.
Enter the conference start and end times.
Specify the appointment duration.
Repeat for other teacher groups requiring different durations.
How do I create different appointment durations for the same teacher?
A teacher who requires different appointment durations for different classes can be listed under two separate resources in Class Editor.
Add the teacher a second time using Add Teacher/Team → Add Teacher.
Move the appropriate class to the second teacher listing.
Rename the resource listings to distinguish the classes.
Create the appropriate appointment durations for each resource on the Appointments page.
Both resources remain associated with the same teacher contact, preventing simultaneous appointments.
For complete details see this page: Creating different time slot durations for the same teacher