Meeting student needs

Last Monday night, four Covington teachers (Mrs. Sitler, Mrs. Goines, Mrs. Mase, and Ms. Tkalcevic) presented to the LASD School Board information about the recent implementation of how we are giving students the extra support they need.  The teachers described the process of planning (much of it done during our Thursday Early Release collaboration time) and using selected periods throughout the week in which each grade level is giving extra, targeted support to our students. 

While good first instruction should provide every student with the learning they need, we know that some students require extra practice.  We also know that some students need the time to go further in their learning they’ve already grasped.   For example, in teaching students the structure of writing a paragraph, we know that some students will need to review the concept again and need additional practice.  For students who already have the structure down, we can work with them in adding details to their supporting sentences.   The key to this is to provide the time- which our grade levels have already carved out in their master schedules.  This is sacred time, separate from instructional time in English/Language Arts, mathematics, writing, and the specials that students experience throughout the week.  

To further the work, it’s important that our grade level teams have time to articulate with each other.   For example, what do first grade teachers feel are the most essential skills in reading that incoming first graders should come in with?  By giving teachers time to discuss (again, here’s where Thursday afternoons come in handy), we can better align our learning continuum Kindergarten through 6th grade.  

As a staff, we have been utilizing the collaboration time on Thursday afternoons with great effectiveness.  In a very real sense, Thursday afternoons have become our sacred time to help us meet all the needs of ALL of our students.

-Wade Spenader, Covington Principal