Intervention in Open Space Learning Environment

Intervention is all about the individualization.  As an intervention specialist, when I would interview for positions, the people interviewing always get to the end and ask the open question, "Do you have any questions for us?"  

"Yes! What does it look like to be an intervention specialist at this school?"  

Sometimes intervention is collaborative teaching; sometimes intervention is set in a resource room.  So at the beginning of the school year when I looked at my teacher schedule, I discovered what my role as the intervention specialist would be at Delaware Area Career Center South Campus. One period of planning, one period of lunch, and all other periods: academic support.  Crystal clear, right?

So here is what I knew about my new job.  There is a large open space (couches, booths, high top seating- some call it the "Starbucks area").  In this space there is a teacher for each content area (Math, Science, Social Studies, and English) plus myself- the intervention specialist.  The school is making a google movement so each teacher made google classrooms. Well there is a start!  Sign me up as co teacher for all classes. As a team, we have about 50 seniors in the morning, and 50 juniors in the afternoon. At the beginning of the year about 10 seniors and 10 juniors were on IEPs. Next step: make google sheet organizing IEP information- due dates, vocational lab assignments, home school information (since the students come from several districts to enroll in our lab opportunities), IEP needs, accommodations, and whatever else might be useful in one spot (I'll give more specifics on this wonderful sheet in another post). On a typical day, the students will enter the large space, grab a chromebook, listen for announcements from teachers if there are any group sessions for the day that they need to schedule, and then look at their google classrooms for assignments to complete.  The assignments, for the most part, are available online. This gives teachers the unique opportunity to really pin-point what information is delivered through other methods- traditional classroom style (in an classroom down the hall), small group sessions based on ability (tiered learning), sessions based on student need (ex: a topic some students assessed poorly), individual instruction (walking around the room to monitor, help, or develop group discussions related to class topics), group and individual advisory of student progress and grades - to name a few. 

So here was my problem: guess what intervention- the job of an intervention specialist- looks like in most schools?  Small group based on ability, small group based on need, individual instruction, and advising students of their progress and grades. How perfect of a gig to be an intervention specialist where the intervention is already worked through the teachers!?!  As you can imagine, the intervention on my part needs to be a little more creative- plus I craved a little more structure in the open setting, with my open schedule, and my open responsibilities. Here is a little step by step of what I do:

Beginning of the year:

• Create my spreadsheet of important dates
• Schedule all annual IEP meetings and any ETRs for the year (must coordinate with home-school district representative)
• Create spreadsheet for a growing log of communication with students (grades, missing assignments, progress on goals, any other information I need to track over a period of time)
• Find any needed assessments (reading, writing, vocabulary, math) that students need to assess IEP goals ( I arrange these in a folder separated by month tabs so I know exactly what assessments to do each month)
• Find transitional assessments to complete with all IEP students every other month (also in binder)

Annually:

• Write and host IEP meetings or ETR meetings scheduled for the year. 

Monthly:

• Assess students who need data logged for reading, writing, math
• Give any transition assessments (helpful information for section 4 and 5 of IEP!) to all IEP students.  I have used interest surveys, career cluster inventories, value interest questionnaires, presentations of ACT/ FAFSA information, etc.

Weekly:

• Meet with each of my kiddos in a individual conference.  
• During this time we will pull up the online grade-book information and see if there are any assignments missing or poor grades that could have assignments corrected and resubmitted.  This is where accessing all work through google classroom to explain directions and review student submissions is a great asset! 
• Write a list for students of assignments that need to be completed and help students prioritize in what order the students should work on their list
• log interaction with students so I have a running record of how grades, missing assignments, or other concerns change over time
• Communicate with parents who need weekly progress updates of their child

Daily:

• Attend any teacher session where it may be useful that I understand how the students are taught certain topics (so that I can assist on explaining detail to students when they need help)
• Monitor large classroom space asking questions to kids on my IEP caseload as well as other students (VERY important so students don't feel identified as special needs)
• work with teachers to identify students who need one on one help with certain assignments (such as editing papers, working through a math module, proctoring a test, etc.)
• Provide any testing prep needed for students that need to pass standardized tests

So in a school environment where intervention is a natural privilege of the teacher, this is what I have defined my role as the intervention specialist.  This type of liberating and self driven classroom is fairly new to the whole team so I am interested in how our classes, roles, and style develop each semester!  We already have a few changes for next year- stay tuned!

And we're off with the blog....

A quote that I once heard, and that has stuck with me as an educator is that if Rip Van Winkle woke up from his nap the only thing he would recognize is the classroom. A teacher at the front of the room, standing in front of rows of desks with students reading out of textbooks and quietly listening while the teacher lectures.

Working in a career center we have seen students who have struggled in the dated, traditional classroom setting thrive and blossom in the hands on learning environment that is their lab. So why not change the academic classroom? 

Our journey to change the way we provided academic class began with an idea of incorporating what we referred to as "Hybrid Friday." Every Friday, students who qualified, meaning they had a 73% or higher in their class and no unexcused absences or discipline issues, did not have to attend their academic classes. Instead, assignments were posted on our LMS (learning management system) and they were required to complete the work before coming to class Monday. Hybrid Friday allowed students to use the time to take part in internships, volunteer opportunities or job placement. 

This idea of making Fridays an event has led us to our current model: an open, cohort style academic approach that allows students choice in time, content, approach and resources to some extent or another. The learning takes place in a large open area that can accommodate anywhere from 30-75 students at a time. In this area, every space can be used for multiple purposes ranging from working individually, in small groups or in large groups. Teachers of all subjects are readily available to answer any questions when not providing one on one interventions, small group instruction or pulling out large groups and conducting class in a more traditional manner. 

This blog will be a chronicle of our success, struggles, and the tools and strategies we use along the way.