Well Oiled Machine

My first group of the day is a writing group with 10 students. On an average day I get through maybe half of what I had planned for the short 30 minute block that I have these students. I constantly find myself redirecting, beginning with non-verbal cues and ending up with many, many, MANY verbal cues. On a good day, I find this group challenging and on a bad day? I find this group close to unmanageable!

Today this group ran like a well oiled machine! It took less than 5 minutes to get through their spelling review which usually takes at least 10 minutes. I gave maybe 2 non-verbal cues to redirect a students attention. We moved on to sharing about the story web they created the previous time we met. After we had finished sharing, I sent two of my students over to my assistant's table so they could catch-up. The two girl (twin sisters) had been absent due to being sick. The remaining students listened and watched as I talked about how to begin their rough draft. Not one redirection happened during this time and the students were able to get started on their beginning paragraph. One student RAISED THEIR HAND (which is unheard of with this group) and asked me a question about what it means to "set the scene". I explained it and gave examples. Another student RAISED THEIR HAND and asked if they could share an idea of what it means to set the scene to help out. Why, yes! Yes, you most certainly can share your idea. And so went the rest of the 30 minutes.

As the students were packing up, I was praising their efforts, hard work, and focus today. This is when my assistant, Phyllis, looks over at me with the all telling look - "Guess who is not here today?" her eyes were asking. Olivia! Can one student have that much of an impact on a small group of students and their learning? I need to continue to work at finding new ways to help Olivia be a part of our group without disrupting the learning of so many other students. I will probably only have Olivia in my class through the end of October but I will continue to help her and provide her with the right tool set for her learning and the learning of others.