In my classroom we are lucky to have a number of adults entering and exiting the room throughout the day. We use the services of these adults to make adjustments based upon the needs for our students. We have 4 reading groups in the morning and an additional teacher in the room which means that 3 small groups (5-7 kids) are getting 30-60 minutes of small group instruction based upon their academic needs. My student with an IEP also gets pulled out during this time for one on one time with the special education teacher. We also have America Reads pull out two kids during our morning for an additional 20 minutes of one on one practice with reading.
In the afternoon the social worker spends recess with my class to monitor the safety situation on the playground by being one on one with my student with an IEP. We also have an EA in our room for math in the afternoon. I use her to work in a group of 1-5 students based on their individual needs. Sometimes I send out my kid with an IEP, but other days I will send out the students who scored low on their CBM math assessment. I also will choose to send out the students who have a hard time focusing or students who didn't score well on an assessment for a bit of review with her.
Sounds like a collaborative effort to meet individual students' needs. I'm sure the effects of this one-on-one and small group attention shows on standardized assessments. Do you think about what it will be like to work in a classroom without as many services provided? I know you know from other fieldwork experiences that LHLC is unique in the resources it has to establish differentiated groups with highly-qualified teachers to guide students (academically and emotionally). I also wonder if there are times when you wish there was less in-and-out, when the classroom was "all yours" for long chunks of time. Just curious . . .
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