This year, when I was making my schedule I had two options for 5th grade math: 1. Pull kids from Social Studies and Story Line or 2. Push in to the general education classroom.
Last year, I had to pull from Social Studies to provide 5th grade math services. It was very difficult because both teachers and students were unhappy about it.
I have mixed feelings about pushing in. I REALLY want to make sure it is an effective use of time for teachers and students. I also have to make sure that it is Specially Designed Instruction and meets IEP goals.
There will be 4 classrooms for 5th grade math. There are 3 full-time teachers and 1 part-time teacher who teaches Math and Writing core. Since each of the 3 full-time teachers send students to the part-time classroom, I was able to ask that some of my students go to the half-time teacher's Core. Some of them will still be in another mainstream classroom. That way one class does not look and feel like a "Special Education class," to the rest of the group.
I am really interested in Co-teaching. I have never done it before. But it seems like the most effective use of time and like it will be the best way to meet student needs. So I will be pushing into the half-time class. So far that teacher seems okay with Co-teaching. I think it will take a lot of coordinating lessons and planning, but I am very optimistic. We use the Bridges curriculum and I already have all the supplemental sets and intervention materials that I can pull as needed.
My Educational Assistant will push into the other classroom. The students in that room are my highest math students. So by pushing in to support them, my hope is that they may actually graduate from math services this year.
If all ends up going well, this could be an incredible way for me to get more experience in an inclusive Special Education model. Most of the time I provide academic services using the pullout model; with the exceptions of writing and behavior. I am really excited to see how it goes!
Last year, I had to pull from Social Studies to provide 5th grade math services. It was very difficult because both teachers and students were unhappy about it.
I have mixed feelings about pushing in. I REALLY want to make sure it is an effective use of time for teachers and students. I also have to make sure that it is Specially Designed Instruction and meets IEP goals.
There will be 4 classrooms for 5th grade math. There are 3 full-time teachers and 1 part-time teacher who teaches Math and Writing core. Since each of the 3 full-time teachers send students to the part-time classroom, I was able to ask that some of my students go to the half-time teacher's Core. Some of them will still be in another mainstream classroom. That way one class does not look and feel like a "Special Education class," to the rest of the group.
I am really interested in Co-teaching. I have never done it before. But it seems like the most effective use of time and like it will be the best way to meet student needs. So I will be pushing into the half-time class. So far that teacher seems okay with Co-teaching. I think it will take a lot of coordinating lessons and planning, but I am very optimistic. We use the Bridges curriculum and I already have all the supplemental sets and intervention materials that I can pull as needed.
My Educational Assistant will push into the other classroom. The students in that room are my highest math students. So by pushing in to support them, my hope is that they may actually graduate from math services this year.
If all ends up going well, this could be an incredible way for me to get more experience in an inclusive Special Education model. Most of the time I provide academic services using the pullout model; with the exceptions of writing and behavior. I am really excited to see how it goes!
