small classes

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Home : 2004 : September : 22

small classes
By Cathy-Dee

I have 19 this year in grade one and have pretty much the same type of students as well. I think when we have the lower students it is more like having 2 students in one.

I have to rethink what I'm doing as well so I can
try to bring up some of my lower students. I have one I just discovered who doesn't know her colours and does not know how to count one to one yet.
Soooo....
I do use centers more often - I start with general centers and then move towards more academic ones as the weeks progress. During centers I can work one on one with a student or do short work times with small groups to help

those students specifically. So I usually do a center time once a day especially for the first 2-3 months.

I also set up areas for my higher students to go to once they finish their work that will not disturb the other students (computers, listening center, etc.,) That way I also can spend more time with other students.

I like to sit my students in small groups of 4 or 5 students as I can work with a small group for 5 minutes and then go to another group. The students are also able to help one another this way too.

One nice thing about smaller classes is that you often can spend more time preparing materials for them - for example sight words on rings that can be sent home for practice. I don't mind making up sets when my class is smaller, but if it is larger then the work becomes too time consuming.

Hope these ideas help. Please share any others you hear about as I can always use some new ideas myself.