[Vet3Teacher]

Well, I've been moved to title 1 after being in the classroom for 11 years. I don't really know what to expect. Admin says I'll be great at it and she's excited. I'm glad she is. I'm not putting down Title 1, but I didn't want this move and just hope that God gives me the strength.

I don't know how to start planning so I'm coming to you. I work in a K-4 building. So far, we are not Title 1, but should be finding out soon. I'd rather be all Title because that way I can work with all kids.

How can I start preparing and planning and such?
Thanks so much!

In order to plan, you need to know some answers about your school’s expectations for Title I. I’ll just give you some things to think about:

1. Are there other Title teachers in the school and/or district you can ask for some advice? I have been a Title I reading specialist in two different school districts. Each district was very different, so this is really important to know.
2. What is your schedule going to look like? (pull-out? push-in?)
3. What does your school use for a universal screener and progress monitoring?
4. What resources/materials/programs does your school use?
5. Title I requires parent involvement. What does your school/district Title I do to support parental involvement?
6. Sounds kinda silly but…Does your school require you to have a separate classroom management system? (This is part of our evaluation process… a former P required a system of my own, so I used sticker charts. Current P doesn’t require a separate system, so I piggy-back off of classroom teachers as needed - e.g., I tell classroom teacher to give/take off points for student’s Dojo.)

Best of luck this year!

[Vet3Teacher]

1. We have many Title 1 teachers in our school district. I will be working with them. Good idea to reach out to them. I spoke with our outgoing Title 1 teacher and she gave me an idea on what I'll be doing the first week or so, but other than that, I will be waiting on a schedule. I will be staying in my school.
2. I will definitely be push in, but not sure about pull out (I hope so)
3. We use Dibels and we also have a new one coming in that we aren't familiar with yet.
4. We have started Ready Gen and have been implementing Eureka Math that I am fully experienced with. We just got rid of Reading Mastery and Fundations.
5. As far as I know, there are letters that go home and parent nights.
6. I will have my own management system if I have kids come in.
I can connect to Class Dojo with those teachers if needed and they want me to.
These were great questions!! Thank you. It made me think about a few things.

[rallsco]

Congratulations on entering the ranks of Title 1. I hope you will come to enjoy it as much as I do. I spent 15 years as a classroom teacher and 10 as a school counselor, but the past 3 as a Title 1 teacher have probably been my favorite. I find that Title 1 allows me to spend most of my time on the parts of teaching I enjoy the most (actually working with kids and much less time on the parts I enjoy the least (bringing home papers to grade and dealing with classroom management).

Since you already have other Title 1 teachers in your building, hopefully they will be really helpful. Ask them to guide you along. The last year I was a classroom teacher I spent my planning periods shadowing the retiring Title 1 teacher every chance I got. It was extremely beneficial. Even now I will sit in with another Title 1 teacher occasionally just to observe and get ideas for working with individual students.

We always begin our year by getting good assessments / baseline data on our students. Even though students have had DIBELS, SRI and DRA (for K-2) at the end of the previous school year, we begin the year with assessments as well. For 1st graders we do the Observation Survey for those who did not reach benchmarks in kindergarten. With 2nd-5th graders, we often do a DRA for kids who have met the multi-criteria for Title 1 services, in addition to the DIBELS and SRI that are given to all students. I sometimes get too impatient with wanting to jump right in and begin pull-out groups the first week, so my co-teachers need to remind me of the value of doing careful assessment and really understanding each student as a reader. I have to know where they are, the strengths they possess, and areas of greatest concern before I can plan the most effective interventions.

Remember to foster positive relationships with classroom teachers. You need their trust and support. And most importantly, build those positive relationships with students, too. You may miss having a class of kids that are truly your kids, but I think you'll come to love the opportunities to invest in kids one-on-one and in small groups.

[Vet3Teacher]

Thank you so much for your encouragement! So far I am the only one in the Title 1 department in my building. Yesterday we started Ready Gen Baseline assessment...with Kinders...enough said. I have been enjoying going into other classrooms and working with all students, but especially my previous students. This will definitely be an adventure!