435 - Blog 4

      This month in my student teaching placement, I have begun to notice the growing gaps between the students in my classroom. The students who have succeeded all semester so far are beginning to connect the dots on concepts, and connect similar concepts together, specifically in math. On the other hand, the students that have struggled all semester have continued to struggle, and have required more and more attention in order to catch up and continue to learn. Many of them are still working on concepts that the class has moved on from, and managing this is very difficult. My CE mostly works with these students, or has me work with these students, during WIN time, which stands for "What I Need." Although this is a great time to help students who are falling behind to move forward in their learning, it is not always enough. It has been very helpful for me to see how these situations are dealt with, and I have learned that each child and each situation is often dealt with differently. We have one child in this class who is in EC for math and reading who has been moved back in the curriculum and is often doing first grade work because the second grade work has been nearly impossible. This child is working on building the concepts he is lacking in order to be able to attempt second grade work. On the other hand, there are many children who are still participating in everything, and succeeding at most everything, but simply require extra attention in specific areas to be able to be on grade level. Each situation is different, but I have learned from my CE that you must do whatever the child needs, even if that means taking a step back from the second grade curriculum and finding the problems in the previous grades content.
     According to ASCD. org in regards to students struggling with mathematics, "Students may have a serious lack of background that requires reaching back to mathematical concepts taught in previous years. The focus should be on the underlying math, not on class assignments. For example, while others are learning multidigit multiplication, floundering students may need experiences to help them learn basic underlying concepts, such as that 5 × 9 can be interpreted as five groups of nine" (Link at bottom). As educators, we must sometimes set aside the concepts the class is learning in order to help students fix the underlying concepts that were never learned. Otherwise, they may never build a foundation and continue to struggle. Knowing what your students need, regardless of the curriculum, is strongly related to the North Carolina Teacher Candidate Standards, specifically standard 4a, which states that "Teachers know the ways in which learning takes place, and they know the appropriate levels of intellectual, physical, social, and emotional development of their students." Throughout my time in this classroom, I have learned how important it is to be aware of your students, and to understand not only what they need from you, but also what is absolutely not going to click with them. My CE knows for some of her students that the whole group instruction of certain concepts most likely won't be enough, and intentionally plans to support those students in other ways. It is extremely important to be in tune with your students, and pay attention to them at all times. In my future classroom, and during my student teaching experience, I hope to learn the signs and signals that students send at all times and be able to read those to understand what my students need and what I need to do for them to make them successful.
   

http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/nov07/vol65/num03/Nine-Ways-to-Catch-Kids-Up.aspx