10 Steps to Building a Learning Center Schedule

One of the most daunting tasks of being a Learning Center (or Resource, depending on what your school calls it) teacher is creating a schedule that meets the needs of your students' widely varying abilities. Using your time most efficiently to work in gen ed classrooms, hold small groups in your own classroom, and build in time to work on IEPs and assessments is quite a bit to fit into the short day! Add on scheduling your para support, and working around the set school-wide schedules, and you have quite a large project ahead of you.

I have been working on creating a consistent system for generating a schedule that works for students, gen ed teachers, and special ed staff without making everyone want to pull out their hair. Here is the basic list of steps that I use each year!

1. Gather Schedules

It's doubtful that only my school has an unending number of schedules to consider when building your own schedule. ELD blocks, RTI schedules, release/specials schedules, library, and don't forget recess and lunch to name a few! In addition to school-wide schedules, get individual gen ed teachers' classroom schedules. This will allow to you ensure that kids who need math support get pulled during  part of their math block, kids who need reading support get pulled during part of their reading block and so on.

Once I have all of this compiled, I draw a huge grid on my white board that looks like this:

I typically use a hand-written grid, but this is the basic information I include!

This grid will be up on my board for several days while I stare at it and move different groups of students around to different time slots. I break the times into 10-minutes increments so that I don't feel tied to half-hour increments. I could justify breaking it into 5 minute increments, but I don't think I could stand having it be twice the size!

2. Create a Cheat Sheet for Each Student

Ahh, special ed, the land of individualization. It is VITAL that you know at least the basic needs and goal areas of your students. Write each student's name on a post-it with their grade, teacher's name, number of minutes served/week, what subject areas they need support in, and if their support should be push-in support, pull-out support, or a combination of both.

My sample is much neater than the actual cheat sheet I create!
I guess that's what happens when you make resources for a blog!

This will give you the opportunity to become familiar with each student's needs and areas that may need more intensive remediation. Knowing this will allow you to schedule the specific groups you need when you get to that step. 

3. Block Out Times

Using the "Conflicts" column of the grid above, I write out times when I will be unable to see certain groups of students. I typically pull students based on grade, then differentiate based on their specific, individualized levels once they get into my classroom. So when I see that all of my 4th graders have release/specials from 9:30-10:10, I mark that on the grid and make sure I don't schedule a 4th grade group during that time.

This is where all of those schedules you gathered in the first step come into play. Write out all of the potential conflicts in the "Conflicts" column, including lunch, recess, ELD, and the many different schedules your school undoubtedly has.

4. Look at Conflict-Heavy Times

After adding all of those potential conflicts into your grid, there will likely be certain times that have LOTS of conflicts. This might strike panic in your heart, but wait, don't react yet! These times are usually the best place to start building! If you have a block of time (typically 30-45 minutes) where you have a majority of your students unavailable, work with the one (or two, depending on how you plan on using your para's time) grade levels that are available. This could be pulling a small group or providing support in the gen ed classroom. If there is a period of time when none of your students are available, this could be a good time to build in some time to work on paperwork, assessments, classroom observations, and the million other things that go along with being a Learning Center teacher.

5. Compare Gen Ed Classroom Schedules to the Open Time Slots in Your Schedule

Note the times each gen ed teacher/grade level is teaching a given subject. If you have a student who needs support with ELA strategies, you will want to try your best to pull them out of class for individualized instruction during their ELA block. This isn't always possible, of course, meaning there has to be some flexibility.

I typically build in time to do ELA and Math for each of the grade levels I serve. This way, I can start placing students into groups depending on their goal areas. Like I mentioned before, I group the students by grade to make scheduling slightly easier, so once I have all of those students at all different levels in my room, I will differentiate to meet all of their needs throughout that group session.

6. Book Times to Co-Teach/Push-In in Gen Ed Classrooms

Perhaps this is not something your school or district does, but let me tell you, I love getting to work with my kiddos in their gen ed classroom! Not only am I able to consistently collect data, but I can also help my students connect strategies they learn in my classroom to other settings. This also helps the special ed department become more integrated in school-wide community.

To choose the most beneficial times for co-teaching/push-in support, look at the gen ed schedules. Find times when students will have ample opportunities to work independently or in small groups. This could be part way through a math block, during reader's/writer's workshop, or during stations for ELA or math. When you do this, this gives you the opportunity to circulate through the classroom, helping all students while circling around to your kids with IEPs with a much higher frequency.

7. Add In Blocks for More Intensive Remediation Groups

Once you've built in your basic groups and co-teaching times, look at the time slots you have left and determine the best times to hold more intensive remediation groups. This could be a phonics group for upper elementary students, social skills groups, consultation, or a variety of other groups you may need depending on your students.

8. Include Time for All Things Special Ed

This may vary depending on district, so consider your special ed department's procedures for time to complete paperwork, etc. In my own district, with the flexibility given to build my schedule, I am expected to provide myself time to complete the many tasks that come along with my job.

I ensure that each year, I leave myself around 45 minutes per day to work on IEPs, assessments, and classroom observations. I do this knowing that I will likely forfeit at least 1-2 of these sessions per week to work with a student who unexpectedly needs assistance, including providing a place for my students to complete classroom tests/district-wide testing, serving a once-weekly consult, or many other possible scenarios. One year, I didn't build this time into my schedule, and by the end of the year, I was feeling more burnt out than ever! I won't make that mistake again!

9. Check Your Students' Minutes

Here comes the part where you unashamedly use a calculator and crunch some numbers! At this point, I have already written out my student cheat sheets on post-its, so I'm going to use them! On each post-it, I write (in shorthand!) which groups each student will come to and calculate to how much time will be served each week with that schedule. I also include what time I will be co-teaching in their classroom, as I will be able to ensure their gen ed level work is specialized to meet each student's specific needs during that time. If this number adds up to the correct number of minutes that the student needs per week, then all is well! If not, which is likely, I look at where I can make a slight adjustment to remedy this. 

There are few things I love more than color-coordinating things! These are coordinated by grade.

10. Be Flexible!

You may spend days on trying to come up with the perfect schedule, spend hours asking gen ed teachers about their schedules, and may even shed a tear or two out of frustration. Believe me, I've been there in all of those examples. Unfortunately, all of that time spent doesn't automatically mean a flawless schedule. Try it out for a day or two, and adjust as needed. Don't be afraid to go back to the drawing board if totally necessary. Remember that you are putting together this puzzle for the adorable little faces that you will be seeing once you start your groups!

Comment below if you have any tips or tricks to add! I'm always looking to refine my schedules-building strategy!

Classroom Tour 2016-17

It appears I require the structure of a school schedule to write blog posts. I had grand intentions for all of these resources I would create and write about over summer break - those did not stick once I walked out of my school in late June.

Here we are, a few weeks into the school year, and I'm writing over Labor Day weekend. I wanted to take some time and give a quick classroom tour of the different areas of my classroom that my students use. Because I am a Learning Center teacher, I share my classroom with another teacher and two/three paraprofessionals. For this reason, I didn't photograph areas of the room that are specific to those other adults as I don't want to allow the internet to invade their privacy.

As I mentioned, there are many adults sharing good ol' Room 21, so when planning my classroom set-up, I want to ensure there are plenty of spaces to work in a small group that will not disrupt other groups working nearby.

This is the area where I do my small group instruction, After trying many different sized kidney tables, I decided to make my own XL version using three normal tables. I can easily access all students when they need individual attention (so constantly) but also gives each student a decent amount of personal space. This set-up also allows for group conversations to happen naturally.

I spent a couple of days over summer painting the classroom tables with whiteboard paint. I may be doing a blog post about that process, but we'll just wait and see. The students love being able to write on the tables and there has already been improved efficiency and creativity from them!

The idea to put the blue paper around my board actually came from the other teacher in my classroom. On her first day in the classroom, she did the same around her whiteboard in red. After seeing that, I realized that doing the same around my whiteboard would create a visual indicator of the different areas of the classroom. Having defined areas within a Learning Center is so important!

In the back corner of the classroom, I've set up a dedicated library/reading area. I find it so important to give a specific place to read where students are excited to go. The students know they don't get to sit in the reading corner unless they are actively reading, so this encourages those developing readers in my classroom to increase their reading stamina to get to stay in a comfy spot while they read. 

I've leveled the books in my library by Accelerated Reader level, as this is a program we use school-wide. Students read a book, then take a short, simple quiz on the book they read. The questions are not the best quality as they are consistently literal questions that a student could find the answer to in the book, but it serves as a nice check of comprehension at the end of each book. In my classroom, when a student finishes a book and passes the test, they get a leaf to put up on the tree in the reading corner. As you can tell, there are none on the tree right now since school is only just starting. The leaves had spread all over that back wall by the end of last year! 

You can also see a couple more whiteboard tables in the bottom of this picture. This is another small group area where my para works with small groups. 

                         

These are some very important parts of the Learning Center. There is a supply shelf where I keep math manipulatives, as well as reading and writing tools. I love having my manipulatives out and accessible at all times since I am constantly working with different groups on different concepts. If I hid them away in a drawer or cabinet, I know I would forget what I had to make learning visual or kinesthetic. I am so lucky to have amazing paras that I work with who helped me organize and label all of these materials, making them even more usable as the students know where to find everything. Their independence increases each time they go to get tools that will help them learn and they don't need me to guide them through finding them! 

You can also see the edge of the other teacher's small group area. She has a whiteboard kidney table in front of her whiteboard as she serves students in grade K-3. You can also see a small desk in the corner of the picture. We use this as a standing desk for students who prefer to stand while working. 

The next area of my Learning Center is the iRead station. This is where students who are working on the iRead app go to have a dedicated area to hone their reading skills. I love Ikea and got these Lack tables there with the little stools specifically for this area. Gotta love Ikea! There are so many things around my classroom from there, so maybe that will be a post later on. :-)

The last space of the classroom is where we keep our textbooks, the Sacramento State University board, and our rainbow display wall. Sacramento State is our classroom university, and has inspired the color scheme in my classroom. There is a strong tendency toward green and yellow with rainbow colors/patterns mixed in. The students ask me questions about college all the time, so I always tell them about my experiences at Sacramento State. I think I have some future hornets in my classroom!

We love displaying student work in the Learning Center, and I wanted a beautiful wall where I could put their work. The kids get to choose what color they want their work on, which makes it even more special to them. There are clothespins on each paper on the wall to make switching out work easier.

We also have a calendar on our door. We use this not only as a calendar to keep track of days, but also as a place to note students' birthdays, soccer games, school-wide events and activities. It is a nice, central place to make sure everyone keeps up to date with what is happening with others in the Learning Center.

I hope you enjoyed getting a look at the way I set up the Learning Center to facilitate instruction for my special learners! Comment with any questions or thoughts you may have! I'm happy to respond!

Reflecting on #CUE16

 
This March, I was lucky enough to attend the National CUE Conference in Palm Springs, California! In case you didn't know, CUE stands for "Computer Using Educator." I went with five colleagues, and we gained so many ideas from this opportunity. While attending the many different sessions, I:

• got tips on how to start this blog 
• learned how to create an infographic 
• got SO MANY mind-blowing tips from Leslie Fisher 
• started making a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure story using Google Forms (link coming soon!)
• got tools to help students demonstrate their learning and ideas
• learned several different apps/websites that can support my students with reading and writing disabilities

That's the short list, if that tells you anything!  Now, the catch is that I attended all of these sessions, wondering if I would be able to apply what I was seeing to my special education classroom. Thankfully, with some small changes or creative thinking, I know I will be able to apply these tools in my classroom.

It is so important that we as teachers do our best not to limit our students, regardless of their ability/disability. Even though it may feel impossible to guide certain students to the level of proficiency that is expected, we must continue trying new strategies that might help them make that necessary connection. This idea will be the concept of this blog.

Follow me on Twitter at @MrsWendyKing to get more regular updates on my classroom and attempts at innovation. Look for more posts coming here soon as I try ideas out!