Yesterday, I discussed with my mentor teacher the possibility of making another attempt at the small group instruction for the students who are pulled out for reading services. She agreed and I immediately began clearing off the reading table so that we could actually use it. We worked out a plan where I would wait to assemble my group until the rest of the class had been given directions and were working at their seats so that we wouldn't be talking over each other.
The students that I was working with had several incomplete assignments that they needed to work on so I called them to the table and started passing out their work. Once they finished one assignment, I gave them the next until they were caught up. This went really well and most students were able to get all of their incomplete work finished and turned in. They were pretty chatty but I was still able to keep their attention focused on their work. One of the students has been identified as a child who has master the learned helplessness routine. He tried to work his charm on me a few times, but quickly realized that I would not feed into his games and settled in to work on his own.
