Amy Kemper Blog Post #3 - Not This: Is There Enough Time?

When it comes to scheduling effectively in the classroom I found that there were a lot of trial and error to see what worked and what did not. I found with my classroom schedule I had to be very strategic in order to allow the down time plus instruction time to fit the needs of each student. Due to the variety of levels in my room whole group lessons are not feasible to do this. Instead the students are broken up to a 1:3 ratio for each center and given 20 minutes to attend as any longer the students may become overwhelmed. Even when the child is given time for “independent reading” I found that it has to be a center where an adult is there with a small ratio to help them through the book. If the student is given the time to look at a book quietly they may not gain as much information as they would if you were asking questions and having them relate the pictures to the text and guiding them though the story. It is also important I schedule in functional instruction for each student. Meaning, our silent reading may be looking at real life signs that they would see on a day to day basis (stop sign, cross walk, railroad ect). I want the students to be able to identify what the sign is and what it means. Overall, when scheduling is done it is important to utilize the time needed by providing instruction, appropriate down time, and ensuring that their skills are also functional to help each student become independent citizens.