There are 17 students in the class, 9 girls and 8 boys. The classroom is fairly diverse in race, ethnicity, and gender. My CT has 4 Exceptional Student Education (ESE) students and 2 gifted students. When the children are learning in groups, they are purposely placed proportionally by their strengths and weaknesses. The CT makes sure each struggling learner is placed with an advanced learner, which I think is a great procedure. I am convinced that my CT is going to take full advantage of my presence in her class and guide me in the right direction to become as effective as she has proved to be!
Last week, a new student came into the class. I noticed some things about her that did not seem right. Her clothes were worn and her hair was unkempt. I noticed she was wearing flip flops instead of closed shoes. She did not bring paper or pencils with her to her first day of school. I just observed and wondered what was going on. I thought maybe she had a special circumstance such as homelessness or orphaned. So this week, I packed my backpack full of binders, loose leaf paper, folders, spiral notebooks, composition notebooks, pencils, erasers, and glue sticks. My kids had some extra school supplies at home. I placed all of the school supplies on her desk and asked the CT about the new student. My instincts were correct. The student was homeless. When she saw the supplies she ran up to me and gave me a big hug. She spent the next ten minutes organizing her new binder to conform to the teacher’s organizational structure. It turned out to be an awesome day for both of us.