It’s a new week at The Forest and it’s almost Thanksgiving break!  Can you believe Pete Delkus is actually talking about the possibility of snow?  We certainly haven’t had any shortage of precipitation this year.  Well, there I go talking too much.

When long breaks come up I get excited just as you do for an extended break.  The tough thing is that long breaks are not as exciting for many of our students.  Some of them go home to tough situations and that hurts.  We are fortunate to have groups on our campus that are bridging the gap for many of them.  All of us can help by being an encouraging voice for our students.  For some of our students you are the best thing in their lives.  Also take some time to encourage them to make great choices over the break.  It’s easy to get sidetracked while they are away so long.

One of the best ways to move students forward in your classroom is to have great Tier 1 instruction.  That means that your instruction is at a level that reaches your students and they reach mastery during original instruction.  As we all know even with the best instruction some students do not get it.  Often times when we think of using small group instruction to reteach or to intervene we think about elementary school.  The concept works just as well in the secondary classroom.  The idea is pretty simple…you work with a group of students who need extra help during class time while your other students are working on another task.  Yes, this takes good management but if it is done right it can be extremely effective.  I have included a link that will explain in more detail.   https://www.theanswerisyes.org/2014/02/10/6-tips-secondary-small-groups/

Video about small group instruction: https://vimeo.com/67153201