Differentiated Instruction

It's been a crazy first 2 weeks of school, but I have survived, and ready for some more action.  My next challenge will not come easy; I am starting to organize my reading groups and math groups.  Last year, I only worked with the students who I saw were struggling, but this year, my aim is to work with all students according to their reading and comprehension levels: the group that has the struggling or below level readers will meet with me 3 days a week; the students who are average will meet with me 2 days a week, and the students who are above average will meet with me one day a week.  I have that all set as far as who is in which group.

The one struggle I am having though is not with reading but with writing.  Last year, I didn't differentiate writing AT ALL!  Every student was given the same task and I used the same rubric on every student.  This year, though, I want to create some kind of tiered weekly writing activities.  However, I am not sure how to start.  A few of my students are finding it difficult to focus on even writing down a date and title in writing, and I can't seem to motivate them to write more than just that.  Some of the students tell me it is because their hands don't want to move faster; it makes me laugh because they're only in second grade and are already coming up with excuses.  In fact, even when the students are asked to draw a picture about what was their favorite part of the story, the same students cannot even complete this task.  If they are not writing, I cannot assess their abilities.  It's so bad that even when they're told to write down their homework (copy it from the board), it takes them too long to do that.  Any ideas of how to speed them up?  It's unfair to say the students don't do any work; actually only one of my students is not completing her class work.  I think it may be time to contact home. 

This year will be challenging, especially as I experiment with new differentiated tools.  <Sigh> Wish me luck!

First day of school

No day is ever perfect, and anything that can go wrong will go wrong. 

The life of a teacher is not easy, especially when you consider the amount of improvising and last minute changes that are made on a regular basis.  With it being the first day of school, I had planned exactly how I imagined my second year was going to start off as.  However, that wasn't the case.  From losing my attendence book, to the copier taking ten minutes for only a few copies, down to the addition and omission of students to my roster, nothing came easy today.  To top it off, it was a muggy and hot day in WNY, and of course the school doesn't have AC, so I was hot and miserable, as were the students.  This year will be a challenge too, as I have a diverse group of students, both academically and behaviorally.  It will be a learning experience though!

Let's just hope day two is more controlling than today was.