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T O P I C : In Search of Katherine raises the issue: I have a ninth-grade class that includes six Individual Education Plan (IEP) students (one of whom cannot form a complete sentence), two repeating students, and one 504 plan that literally says he can walk out of the class at any moment because of his anger management issues. In this classroom, group work is impossible. The rest of the class consists of five very bright students who should be in pre-AP and an additional 16 kids who are fine, but bored out of their mind. Most of the activities I plan are either partner or group work. I have tried and tried to find inventive ways to do active work in this class, and it never works. However, I don't want it to be a traditional class where I stand in front and lecture all day, hand out assignments, and give them time to do their work in class. Lately, that is how I have had to run this class and their attention and desire to do the work has completely diminished. What are some creative ways I can engage these kids without making them uncomfortable or frustrated? Posted October 10, 2008
 R E S P O N S E : Tutoring Time Is the Key Deanna Bunch writes: I also have a class with a significant number of IEP students. It is the most challenging class of the day, but observing my mentor helped me to pick up some helpful hints. My mentor teacher keeps class going at a reasonable pace for the average student. She gives the IEP students modified assignments, allows them to come in for tutoring, and gives them a reasonable amount of extra time to complete assignments. The tutoring time seems to be the key to keeping the IEP kids on track with English. By taking time out of one of her planning periods to tutor every day, my mentor is sending a clear signal that she really cares about the success of these students. Posted November 16, 2008
R E S P O N S E : Offer More Choices Katy Henry writes: Have you tried giving the kids more choice about what kind of group work that they do? Although they can't possibly choose everything they do in groups, it might be a good idea to have a few possibilities they can choose from. This way, they will take more ownership of their work, and they will want to stay more focused. This might be especially good for your IEP students. If you let them choose, then it might provide a good opportunity for them to interact with the other kids in the class. As for your anger management student, he or she can't get mad about the assignment if the class has chosen what they will be doing! This is just a thought to consider. I hope your class starts working out better! Posted November 17, 2008
R E S P O N S E : Assign a Vital Classroom Role Brian Lee writes: While I have not had this particular demographic — or even a similar one — in any of my classes, one method I have used to provide students with a higher level of differentiation is providing independent cooperative learning work for higher functioning students. While the higher level students complete these cooperative learning tasks, I have time to work directly with those students who are struggling in my class. This method worked especially well in providing me time to conduct paper conferences with each student in my PRE-AP class. I was able to provide each student with as much or as little guidance as they needed. Another suggestion would be to give students with behavioral issues administrative duties in the classroom (e.g. taking roll, collecting assignments, passing out papers, checking in books, etc.). By providing specialized tasks for these students, they may view their position in the classroom as being vital to the everyday functioning of the class instead of just going through the motions of being a student. Posted December 2, 2008
E-mail your suggestions and comments to fbowles@uark.edu 
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