RSA1: Mr. Gonzalez's Classroom: Response to Intervention

http://www.educatoral.com/wordpress/2012/09/03/response-to-intervention/

I went looking for a blog that discussed the Response to Intervention (RtI) initiative because it can be confusing and discovered Alfonso Gonzalez, Educator Al (@educatoral on Twitter). He is a middle-school science teacher who is heavily involved in learning about RtI, collaboration, Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) and Professional Learning Networks (PLNs) and offers extensive commentary and classroom-implemented plans to help students learn. Although he is a science teacher, nationally board certified, and prolific grant writer (and winner), he struggles with some of the same basic issues I do: how to motivate students, how to differentiate in classes, and how to intervene with those students who have difficulties “doing school.”

RtI is a puzzle for Educator Al as it is for many teachers. In his blog, “Mr. Gonzalez’s Classroom: A blog to learn and share about my profession,” he works his way through the RtI pyramid in an easy-to-follow manner, providing instruction to the novice as though he’s discovering it along with him or her. He removes inaccessible jargon from his explanation, which makes the material comprehensible. For many teachers, student behavior, or misbehavior, results in predetermined consequences. However, there are a few students for whom those consequences do not work. An intervention would connect a student with consequences and assistance that are appropriate for that student. For example, today a student in a class (not mine, but I witnessed it) got up and walked out. Politely and quietly, but he still walked out. The usual response to that behavior is a referral. However, this boy is a special education student and, unbeknownst to the teacher, had a history of anger and frustration. At his last IEP meeting, it was suggested that he take control of his behavior by leaving the room to avoid potential frustration. (Apparently it also was suggested that he inform the teacher, but he forgot that part.) He left the classroom and walked straight to the freshmen discipline office to cool off. Crisis averted. (No referral written; double intervention.)

Gonzalez connects RtI with behavior, indicating that, at the middle school level, interventions are primarily about behavior. A teacher cannot teach a student who will not behave, and if one student is misbehaving, for whatever reason, there will be no learning in the classroom (there certainly will not be any teaching except for how to deal with misbehaving students). I find that concept illuminating with regard to my own freshmen. I am teaching a class that is set up as an intervention class for those students who do not have the skills to function in a traditional English class. The class is based on mastering skills rather than reading specific texts and taking a test or writing a five-paragraph essay. The students use rotations of small group, independent reading (a book of their choice) and computer work to build their skills. While the program might be controversial for traditionalists, thus far it is building success and confidence in some of my lowest-functioning students. Students work at their own pace within a two-block class structure while learning the skills necessary to move into a “traditional” English class. This structure supports DuFour, DuFour, Eaker and Many’s (2010) conclusion that “it is impossible for all students to learn at high levels if some do not receive additional time and support for learning. Even the most ardent advocates of the premise that all students can learn acknowledge that they will not learn at the same rate and with the same support” (108-109).

References

DuFour, D., DuFour, R., Eaker, R., & Many, T. (2010). Learning by doing: A handbook for professional learning communities at work. Bloomington: Solution Tree Press.

Gonzalez, A. (3 September 2012). Response to Intervention. [Web log post]. Mr. Gonzalez’s Classroom. Retrieved from http://www.educatoral.com/wordpress/2012/09/03/response-to-intervention/