Are class assignments random for students in elementary school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do they ever make a "slow" class or do they usually put a good mix of ability? We are new to FCPS 2nd grade well regarded school and I can't tell if my kid got a "slow" class or if the kids in the grade in general are just way behind. Kid claimed a lot of other kids missed what I would consider to be a kindergarten level brain teaser.

Kid claims at that age are pretty suspect IME--if one kid misses it, they over-generalize etc. Kids don't have a good handle on the overall distribution, for most kids in ways that favor themselves being smarter than everyone else. Also, post summer, many kids are just getting back in to listening to a teacher, following directions and are distracted and the teachers do a lot of "low ball" questions etc to build confidence.

That said, sometimes schools arrange it that the kids who have an IEP that requires some pull-out times are more concentrated in one class for scheduling purposes--this also sometimes allows there to be a more dedicated aide to handle their IEPs. Depends on how the school structures it. In my kid's 2nd grade class it was kind of bimodal--there were a lot of kids who had IEPs who needed extra help and a lot of kids who ended up going on to AAP in 3rd grade and not that much in the middle.

How does that work? Did the teacher effectively teach two different lessons each class? Sounds like a nightmare, unless the teacher focuses on one to the detriment of the other.

Normally, when I get classes like this, I teach the lessons that are required for that grade level. The students that need considerably more support might get pull to the back table with the IA or SPED co-teacher. If I don’t have support for that lesson, then the whole class stay together, and I circle around to help them as well as other students.

[Anonymous]

They are about as random as seating arrangements at weddings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do they ever make a "slow" class or do they usually put a good mix of ability? We are new to FCPS 2nd grade well regarded school and I can't tell if my kid got a "slow" class or if the kids in the grade in general are just way behind. Kid claimed a lot of other kids missed what I would consider to be a kindergarten level brain teaser.

You have to be able to take what your child says with a grain of salt. Children will tell white lies, exaggerate, misremember and take things out of context all the time.

As several teachers have said in the past "I promise not to believe half of the things your child says to me about you, if you will promise to do the same for me."

[Anonymous]

My child has SN and receives pull outs. Last year 3 classmates got together and targeted him extensively especially during the second half of the school year, calling him stupid, an idiot, even escalating into violence on the playground. We worked with the school on an ongoing basis about the situation and then at the end of the year requested those three students not be in the same class with him this year. At open house we noted that in addition to those three not being in his class, a few others he had told us about during the year, but whom we never mentioned to anyone at the school (felt the interactions were more like typical 1st grade drama), were also not in his class. Additionally, students he had told us were "nice" were in the class. Obviously some names we didn't recognize but noticing the obvious thought put into placement made us feel more comfortable about this school year. It was appreciated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do they ever make a "slow" class or do they usually put a good mix of ability? We are new to FCPS 2nd grade well regarded school and I can't tell if my kid got a "slow" class or if the kids in the grade in general are just way behind. Kid claimed a lot of other kids missed what I would consider to be a kindergarten level brain teaser.

You have to be able to take what your child says with a grain of salt. Children will tell white lies, exaggerate, misremember and take things out of context all the time.

As several teachers have said in the past "I promise not to believe half of the things your child says to me about you, if you will promise to do the same for me."

Yeah. I get that, that's why I used to word "claimed", meaning I'm skeptical. But then I reviewed the class schedule and there is a 30 min block daily labeled "intervention". What is that? I originally figured it was small group time for select individuals but then I was second guessing the entire class once my kid "claimed" what they did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do they ever make a "slow" class or do they usually put a good mix of ability? We are new to FCPS 2nd grade well regarded school and I can't tell if my kid got a "slow" class or if the kids in the grade in general are just way behind. Kid claimed a lot of other kids missed what I would consider to be a kindergarten level brain teaser.

Kid claims at that age are pretty suspect IME--if one kid misses it, they over-generalize etc. Kids don't have a good handle on the overall distribution, for most kids in ways that favor themselves being smarter than everyone else. Also, post summer, many kids are just getting back in to listening to a teacher, following directions and are distracted and the teachers do a lot of "low ball" questions etc to build confidence.

That said, sometimes schools arrange it that the kids who have an IEP that requires some pull-out times are more concentrated in one class for scheduling purposes--this also sometimes allows there to be a more dedicated aide to handle their IEPs. Depends on how the school structures it. In my kid's 2nd grade class it was kind of bimodal--there were a lot of kids who had IEPs who needed extra help and a lot of kids who ended up going on to AAP in 3rd grade and not that much in the middle.

How does that work? Did the teacher effectively teach two different lessons each class? Sounds like a nightmare, unless the teacher focuses on one to the detriment of the other.

It actually worked fairly well for my kid who went on to AAP and doesn't have an IEP. I can't speak to how it worked for those with IEPs but it seemed okay. The teacher did instruction to the standard grade level fairly quickly, then the aide supported the kids with IEPs in a small group to respond to the standard instruction/assignments in ways that fit with their accommodations while the teacher launched the more advanced kids on assignments at a higher level. She then generally went around the room providing individual/small group supports to all the kids. There was a lot less whole group instruction in this 2nd grade class than there had been in 1st, but more work done and more small group with a teacher. This was how language arts and math were done. Science and social studies were usually done in more mixed groups.

[Anonymous]

My child is in a language immersion program so our situation is a bit different as there are only 2 classes they have the option to be in. Of their closest 3 friends from last year, 2 are in the other class and 1 is in their class. The 2 they arent with were the two that would always be the other half of "too much chatting" while the one they are with tended to be better about not talking during work times. I noticed a number of the other friend groups who would play off each other in a negative way were also split up and 100% assumed the teachers last year sat down and made a list of "kids who shouldn't be in the same class" to give to whoever made the final rosters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do they ever make a "slow" class or do they usually put a good mix of ability? We are new to FCPS 2nd grade well regarded school and I can't tell if my kid got a "slow" class or if the kids in the grade in general are just way behind. Kid claimed a lot of other kids missed what I would consider to be a kindergarten level brain teaser.

You moved here from a different public school system?
There are no "slow" classes.

Or, to put it another way, every class (besides level IV) is equally slow. Welcome to FCPS!

True for our experience with FCPS ES gen ed. We had moved from another state.

[Anonymous]

I feel teachers do the best they can making classes for the next year, but it’s just impossible to make everybody happy with the allocated resources.

[Anonymous]

I am pretty sure my child is in the class with the sped students. Her class is the only class with a FT sped teacher.

Last year, there was one class that seemed to have all the ESOL kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am pretty sure my child is in the class with the sped students. Her class is the only class with a FT sped teacher.

Last year, there was one class that seemed to have all the ESOL kids.

Curious about the grade level?

FWIW, DD was in a class with sped students. I think it was a good experience for her. It was second grade and it was team taught. She really liked the sped teacher, too. I think after that year, they changed the model--but this worked well at that point.

However, I think it is a serious mistake to put all the ESOL kids in one class. I was a teacher and when I had onesies and twosies of ESOL kids, their English improved quickly. But, when I had six or seven, they hung with each other exclusively on the playground, etc, and English developed more slowly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It takes us hours every spring to figure out classes for the following year.

You keep saying this but then what about all the new kids that show up over the summer? Do you just randomly throw them in wherever?

Yes! Unless they have a specific need (ELL, IEP, Gifted) that would require they be in a specific class

Do ESs put all the kids with IEPs in one classroom? (That seems unfair for the teacher considering the extra time they would need to attend IEP meetings.)

Putting all the students with IEPs in one class might violate Least Restrictive Environment.

[Anonymous]

Yep. At the end of the year happy hour, we throw darts at a board to determine who goes in which class. Good fun!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It takes us hours every spring to figure out classes for the following year.

You keep saying this but then what about all the new kids that show up over the summer? Do you just randomly throw them in wherever?

Yes! Unless they have a specific need (ELL, IEP, Gifted) that would require they be in a specific class

Do ESs put all the kids with IEPs in one classroom? (That seems unfair for the teacher considering the extra time they would need to attend IEP meetings.)

Putting all the students with IEPs in one class might violate Least Restrictive Environment.

I think that there is a difference between those with iEPs for some issues that require an all day supervision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It takes us hours every spring to figure out classes for the following year.

You keep saying this but then what about all the new kids that show up over the summer? Do you just randomly throw them in wherever?

Yes! Unless they have a specific need (ELL, IEP, Gifted) that would require they be in a specific class

Do ESs put all the kids with IEPs in one classroom? (That seems unfair for the teacher considering the extra time they would need to attend IEP meetings.)

Putting all the students with IEPs in one class might violate Least Restrictive Environment.

I think that there is a difference between those with iEPs for some issues that require an all day supervision.

+1, a class with 5-6 IEPs out of 24 kids doesn’t violate LRE.