Teacher Assistant Support
Stakeholder Collaboration
Even with the best set of directions students still needed some guidance or individual assistance. My school currently uses a full inclusion model (Special Education students are included in the general education classes) and SPED students often need additional support. I want all my students to learn to be independent and take ownership of their learning but I also do not want them to "suffer in silence" if they need help or are incapable of access the material. Having a co-teacher adds an extra set of hands and eyes to the classroom and gives my the flexibility to even create multiple classrooms within the class.
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During small group, I am able to give individualized feedback to my students. I want small group to be a safe place where my students can share, ask questions, and be able to learn content and skills authentically. This also gives me the opportunity to clarify misconceptions, to reinforce key learnings by giving my students one-on-one attention and support.
The grouping algorithm employed by School of One assigns students a new lesson every day based on the student's most current learning needs. The algorithm actually learns the students' needs from the previous day's exit ticket. One of the learning styles or lesson types, Live Investigation, assigns students to me who are ready for whatever the assigned skill is. However, within that group, there are still varying levels of ability. I can see all of this on my data report and then I can group within my group. I call this micro-grouping.
I implement a station rotation model in my classroom. On a typical day, following brief whole-class direct instruction, my students will rotate through three blended learning stations: small group instruction, collaborative learning, and independent work. At each station, students work either with a teacher, a group of their peers, or individually towards content mastery. The key levers of my model are student self-pacing and small-group instruction. Through a mix of student choice and teacher facilitation, I have been able to activate my students’ learning and accelerate them towards higher academic achievement.
Number of Students: ~25 students
Number of Adults: one teacher; one paraprofessional
Length of Class Period/Learning Time: 45 minutes
Digital Content/Ed Tech Tools Used on a Regular Basis: Kahoot!; Plickers; PBWorks; Blackboard; Newsela; Edmodo; BrainPop & BrainPop Jr; Discovery Education Techbook; Padlet; Vimeo; Today’s Meet
Hardware Used on a Regular Basis: 25 ASUS T100 laplets with charging cart (1:1); Promethean Board
Key Features: station rotation; student agency