Kim is a 4th grade special education teacher and one of our awesome educators. She tells us how she uses Formative to support different reading groups simultaneously...
Kim's Challenge in Teaching Multiple Reading Groups
"While I find that Formative is a great tool that can be used in Math, I have also found it beneficial in my guided reading groups. Our district has adopted the reading which allows teachers to work in small groups during reading while the other students are completing independent activities. I decided to use Formative with my reading groups, because I was noticing that some of my students weren't completing their independent activities that were being assigned to them.
I use an intervention kit in reading to help develop my lessons and focus on many different reading strategies. When I finish a reading unit, I would then give my students a reading response to complete independently when they went back to their seats (this was usually done on a piece of paper). I would then collect them at the end of reading and noticed that I was getting the type of responses that I was expecting, or some of my students weren't even responding at all.
How Formative Helped Her With That Challenge
This is when I decided to use Formative. By doing this, I am able to have my laptop open to see my students completing their responses, while also working with my small group. I am also able to give feedback to these students to make sure that they are on the right track.
She Uses Specific Features To Meet Individual Needs
As a special education teacher, one thing that truly made a difference for me was being able to give my students a tool that they could use. Before using GoFormative, I had two students who wouldn’t finish a reading response. The one student would not finish their assignment because he needed someone to sit with him to remind him to continue to complete his work. With GoFormative, I am able to give him feedback immediately and help him complete his task in a more independent way. The second student who wouldn’t complete reading responses, would end up “shutting down” every time he needed to write anything about what he read. This became a battle, which made him start disliking reading. By using GoFormative, he doesn’t need to physically write anything on paper. He loves not having to “write” his responses, and now completes these responses on his own without getting upset.