#highneeds — Public Fediverse posts

Just call me Pinball

No, not a Pinball wizard, just a pinball. I have a co-taught class at the end of the day, though we don’t call it co-taught here. We call it SDI (specially designed instruction) basically what it means is the SpEd teacher can then be pulled from the classroom to cover testing for other classes rather than be in the room the whole time as they would if it were labeled CT. So my co-teacher (yes, still calling her that) is with me every other day, and the other days I have a classroom assistant who can also be pulled for testing.

This happened last week where the CA was pulled and was gone the entire hour. Now, my class numbers are fairly low, but this class is high needs, most of their IRLs are significantly below grade-level. Over half the class are IEP kids, and one of those seems to feel the CA or co-teacher belongs solely to him. We’re working on breaking that perception. In the meantime he needs constant prompting to get work done. So last Tuesday and today, I spent the class circling more than usual. I’d stop by the first child’s desk point out what he needs to do next, make a circuit around the room, actually, here’s where the pinball comes in because it’s not so much a circle as a bouncing back and forth between those who need help. Go back to first student and repeat. ALL HOUR.

Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely appreciate that they ask questions. That’s great. But it’s exhausting when it’s just me and five kids have five different questions at once and they can’t really help each other. This is my least self-sufficient class. When there are two adults in the room it works so much smoother. I still end up tired from the neediness, but I’m not leaving the kids without the help they need and I’m not going to discourage the questions and self-advocacy.

Just call me Pinball

No, not a Pinball wizard, just a pinball. I have a co-taught class at the end of the day, though we don’t call it co-taught here. We call it SDI (specially designed instruction) basically what it means is the SpEd teacher can then be pulled from the classroom to cover testing for other classes rather than be in the room the whole time as they would if it were labeled CT. So my co-teacher (yes, still calling her that) is with me every other day, and the other days I have a classroom assistant who can also be pulled for testing.

This happened last week where the CA was pulled and was gone the entire hour. Now, my class numbers are fairly low, but this class is high needs, most of their IRLs are significantly below grade-level. Over half the class are IEP kids, and one of those seems to feel the CA or co-teacher belongs solely to him. We’re working on breaking that perception. In the meantime he needs constant prompting to get work done. So last Tuesday and today, I spent the class circling more than usual. I’d stop by the first child’s desk point out what he needs to do next, make a circuit around the room, actually, here’s where the pinball comes in because it’s not so much a circle as a bouncing back and forth between those who need help. Go back to first student and repeat. ALL HOUR.

Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely appreciate that they ask questions. That’s great. But it’s exhausting when it’s just me and five kids have five different questions at once and they can’t really help each other. This is my least self-sufficient class. When there are two adults in the room it works so much smoother. I still end up tired from the neediness, but I’m not leaving the kids without the help they need and I’m not going to discourage the questions and self-advocacy.

Just call me Pinball

No, not a Pinball wizard, just a pinball. I have a co-taught class at the end of the day, though we don’t call it co-taught here. We call it SDI (specially designed instruction) basically what it means is the SpEd teacher can then be pulled from the classroom to cover testing for other classes rather than be in the room the whole time as they would if it were labeled CT. So my co-teacher (yes, still calling her that) is with me every other day, and the other days I have a classroom assistant who can also be pulled for testing.

This happened last week where the CA was pulled and was gone the entire hour. Now, my class numbers are fairly low, but this class is high needs, most of their IRLs are significantly below grade-level. Over half the class are IEP kids, and one of those seems to feel the CA or co-teacher belongs solely to him. We’re working on breaking that perception. In the meantime he needs constant prompting to get work done. So last Tuesday and today, I spent the class circling more than usual. I’d stop by the first child’s desk point out what he needs to do next, make a circuit around the room, actually, here’s where the pinball comes in because it’s not so much a circle as a bouncing back and forth between those who need help. Go back to first student and repeat. ALL HOUR.

Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely appreciate that they ask questions. That’s great. But it’s exhausting when it’s just me and five kids have five different questions at once and they can’t really help each other. This is my least self-sufficient class. When there are two adults in the room it works so much smoother. I still end up tired from the neediness, but I’m not leaving the kids without the help they need and I’m not going to discourage the questions and self-advocacy.

Just call me Pinball

No, not a Pinball wizard, just a pinball. I have a co-taught class at the end of the day, though we don’t call it co-taught here. We call it SDI (specially designed instruction) basically what it means is the SpEd teacher can then be pulled from the classroom to cover testing for other classes rather than be in the room the whole time as they would if it were labeled CT. So my co-teacher (yes, still calling her that) is with me every other day, and the other days I have a classroom assistant who can also be pulled for testing.

This happened last week where the CA was pulled and was gone the entire hour. Now, my class numbers are fairly low, but this class is high needs, most of their IRLs are significantly below grade-level. Over half the class are IEP kids, and one of those seems to feel the CA or co-teacher belongs solely to him. We’re working on breaking that perception. In the meantime he needs constant prompting to get work done. So last Tuesday and today, I spent the class circling more than usual. I’d stop by the first child’s desk point out what he needs to do next, make a circuit around the room, actually, here’s where the pinball comes in because it’s not so much a circle as a bouncing back and forth between those who need help. Go back to first student and repeat. ALL HOUR.

Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely appreciate that they ask questions. That’s great. But it’s exhausting when it’s just me and five kids have five different questions at once and they can’t really help each other. This is my least self-sufficient class. When there are two adults in the room it works so much smoother. I still end up tired from the neediness, but I’m not leaving the kids without the help they need and I’m not going to discourage the questions and self-advocacy.