Meeting Individual Needs: A Helpful Tool!

It can definitely be a challenge to truly know when students "don't get" a concept. Sometimes my students are reluctant to bring it to my attention when they are having difficulty understanding something!  I know that as a teacher, it is a challenge to have systems in place for pulling students aside that need individual help.  

Last year I developed a "HELP TICKET" that the kids could use to alert me when they need extra help.  Students fill out this form when they are confused on a topic and need some extra one-on-one time with me. I LOVE it!  It eliminates the students coming up to me and saying "I DON'T GET IT!"  and allows me to know exactly what students are having trouble in. 

This is how it works.  The students staple the help ticket to the assignment they are having difficulty with.  After filling out the help ticket and stapling their assignment, they place it in a designated basket which I check daily.  This way, myself or my T.A. can set aside a time during individual work time (even downtime/SSR) to meet with these students and work with them individually.  This is helping me feel more successful as a teacher since I am (HOPEFULLY) not letting kids slip through the cracks if they are having a hard time with something.  

It also gives the more reserved and shy kids a voice when they need help. Some kids are much more comfortable with writing down when they need help versus asking.  Here is what the "HELP TICKET" looks like, along with a few examples from some of my meetings with students.  I save the help tickets to show parents during conferences.  This is WONDERFUL documentation of how you are meeting student's needs.  The parents LOVE it too and some even take some home so that they can have them on hand. Click on the pics below to be taken to this download...

Do you have any tricks for meeting the needs of your students?

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