Fair is not equal or the same, it's what that person needs at that time

As in all classrooms, my classroom is full of students with varying needs and abilities.  I have a handful of students in my "below-level" reading group, a couple in my "advanced reading group".  Some weeks I have a couple students taking an advanced spelling list while one student only takes ten of the twenty regular words.  Most of my students take a timed test that consists of 100 multiplication problems while a couple only do 20.  Some get additional support on tests, while I expect more from others.  I even have students writing on all types of paper.  Some can use regular notebook paper, others need that middle dashed line, a couple need primary paper with wide spacing for their writing.  I even have a few students working with an advanced math program as they have caught on quickly with what I'm doing in class and I want to move them on.  The list goes on and on (as I'm sure it does for you too).

My students are very kind and good Christians, but sometimes I hear things such as, "That's baby work" or "why are you only doing ten words?".  I can understand how it would feel if I was working on 100 problems and my neighbor only had 20.

I saw this great idea somewhere (pinterest? another teaching blog?) that helps with this problem.  I decided to try it in my classroom and it worked wonderfully!

First buy a box of bandaids so that there is enough for each child.  Sit with the children in a circle and tell them to close their eyes and think of a time they were hurt.  When they open their eyes tell them you are going to give them a bandaid to make them feel better.  Walk around and put the bandaid on their hand. 

The first child I gave the bandaid to told me, "It was my other hand that was hurt"  The next kid said, "My cut was on my knee!  Can you put the bandaid there instead?"  Around the entire room the children didn't like getting the bandaid on their hand when their injury was elsewhere.  Finally one kid said, "Putting a bandaid on my hand when it's my head that hurts doesn't help me."

There you go...  Exactly.  This led us to a discussion about how some children learn differently.  We talked about how some need more help, how some need less help, and how some struggle with lots of things and need work they can do.  I put some math problems (super hard-high school level) on the board and asked for volunteers to solve it.  No one volunteered.

So I asked, "Would it matter how many of these problems I gave you?  Would 20 be any easier than one hundred?"  One student told me, "If I can't do one, I can't do 100 or 20!"

They really started to understand that sometimes what is fair is NOT equal.  A good lesson for all of us!

What is RtI?

RtI means Response to Intervention.

From the website http://www.rti4success.org/whatisrti

"Rigorous implementation of RTI includes a combination of high quality, culturally and linguistically responsive instruction; assessment; and evidence-based intervention. Comprehensive RTI implementation will contribute to more meaningful identification of learning and behavioral problems, improve instructional quality, provide all students with the best opportunities to succeed in school, and assist with the identification of learning disabilities and other disabilities."

RtI is responding to your students needs before their needs become a problem.  It's a multi-level PREVENTION system. 

My school has been working with RtI for the past year.  It's an ongoing process as we learn about and implement it.  We've had a couple workshops on RtI and meet often within our levels to discuss how our tracking is going.

By tracking I mean our notes.  Each day we jot down things that happened today regarding student behavior/performance.  It's an ongoing record and helps us see issues with students or ongoing problems with behavior (not turning in homework, being off task, always late, etc).  It helps when setting up meetings with our response team and with parents (I have the EXACT dates written down).

These notes are for you.  So when taking them you do not need to be detailed.  Jot down the student's name, date, and what is going on.  For example:

10-10-11
John: did not meet his goal of 80% multiplication problems (factor 8) answered correctly in 3 min.

Now that I know that, what am I going to do?  Pull him aside and drill him, give him extra worksheets that focus on 8 as a factor, have a tutor meet with him to do flashcards, teach him a song for his 8s, etc.  I'm going to jot down the date, each time I meet with him, what we did, and how it went

10-12-11

John: met for 10 minutes and worked on flashcards with 8 as a factor.  He correctly answered 0-5, 10, and 11 within seconds, but had to count on his fingers for 6-9 and 12.

10-15-11

John: met for 5 minutes to take a timed test with 8 as a factor.  He met his goal of 80% in 3 minutes.

Now that his goal is met, it does not mean I stop there.  I want to make sure I am still meeting with him to work on his 8s until I am sure he is secure with them.


It's important that you review your notebook often (I do it when lesson planning) and write in your lesson plan book when you are doing RtI and who you are meeting with (and what you are working on).

Under each day in my lesson plan book I write RtI and the names of people who need to sit with me (and I know who to meet with because I looked in my notebook)

It might look like this

Amy: 10 min. of short vowel sounds-complete vowel sort

Josh: 10 min. of state review: given a map, color in the states I name

Karen: 10 min. of long division introduction

Notice RtI isn't just for struggling kids.  I'm meeting with Karen to push her ahead in math so she isn't bored with our lessons (which will cause problems in the long run-you never want bored students).

In my notebook I am going to write their names, what we did, and how it went

11-14-11

Josh: Find states on a map-correctly identified Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Michigan.  Thought Ohio was Indiana. 
As I learn more about RtI I will post about it.  For now, that is how we work with it.  Hopefully for now I've explained it well enough.

Grouping your learners

We know that not all children learn the same.  It isn’t fair to teach them all the same and have everyone complete the same assignment.  Some students need more time to do less challenging work and other students fly through every assignment you give them.  

In my classroom I assign each student to a colored group and each color has different projects and assignments they are working on in class.  Students can move up and down groups based on previous assignments.

Here is an example of how I grouped learners to do a science project:

GREEN GROUP

Make a picture of each ecosystem.  Show what types of organisms live there.  List the properties (details) of that ecosystem.

BROWN GROUP

Make a cluster web of each ecosystem.  List five details about that ecosystem.

WHITE GROUP

Draw a picture of each ecosystem and write a short sentence about that ecosystem. 

The white group was very low the year I did this.  As you can see, they would really struggle doing what the brown group was doing.  My brown group could probably do what my green group was doing, but this would take them a very long time and many would get frustrated. 

Make sure your assignments are leveled so students don’t end up frustrated or bored.  You want everyone to be working at a comfortable level for them.

Some ask about other students complaining about having more work or the white group having it “easy”.  I talk to my students about being different and being created in God’s image (Catholic school).  Not everyone learns the same so it isn’t fair for everyone to have the same assignment.  If students ever make fun of my white group, there are serious consequences.  I do not tolerate teasing directed at anyone and I make that VERY clear early on.