I was hoping someone could give me schedule suggestions. I have 12 students, grades 2-5, and about 6 different schedules to work around (6 different teachers). I was hoping to do some inclusion, but the school has “literacy block” times during which everyone does their reading program, and they all overlap so much I can’t be in all the rooms for reading. I can’t even find 30 min. to spend in each room for literacy block, there’s so many teachers to work around. So, now I’m looking at pull out, but I’m still having a hard time!!
Help! Any organizational ideas or personal experience stories would help!!
Aimee
Re: oh my!! the schedule!!
Try grouping your kids by either grade, if all the kids in the same grade are at similar levels, or by ability, so that you have everyone working within a certain range in the RR at the same time. If all the grade 2 teachers (for example) do reading at the same time it might be easiest to pull all the grade 2 kiddos in together. If they’re not all working at similar levels work with 1 group for half the time while the other group does computer work, instructional games, silent reading, seat work, etc. Depending on how many students it would be, how large your room is, and if you have any assistance, you might be able to combine 2-3 grades at a time. Also, check with the classroom teachers on what they will be doing during this literacy block. It may be possible to have your kids stay in their class for part of that time. Scheduling is a nightmare, but it does get easier with experience. Good luck! Feel free to e-mail me if you have specific questions ~ I’ll be in the same boat in another week!
Aimee- The scheduling is one of the hardest things we do all year long. Once you get it done, the rest will be much easier. One thing that helped me this year was to get a big piece of paper and lay it out in blocks representing 30 minute intervals. Then I just began to plug things in, looking at related arts schedules, lunch schedules, etc. Our special ed. staff eventually had to go to the principal for some help this year. Some teachers had to rearrange a little and change the time of day that they taught some subjects. Just remember, if the student’s IEP says he or she will receive services in inclusion, you’ll probably have to have another meeting to change it to pull-out services.