Educators who teach large numbers of children at once are always choosing who to focus on, when, and how--it's almost impossible to give all students exactly what they need when they need it. That's why we sometimes get those grimaces, side comments, huffs, and puffs from students--we can't be everyman or everywoman, and we can't always be able to help everyone at the very moment or in the very way they desire help.
Yet, we try--we come up with all kinds of patterns to meet as many needs as possible. We group students in multiple ways so they can support each others' learning. We use online and offline tools that help students learn. We teach from the front of the class, at the side, and in the middle with large groups, small groups, and in-between groups. We answer emails, personalize lesson plans, analyze scores/assessments, and use lots of coaching language and actions to encourage, inspire, and nudge students ahead.
We want them all to reach as high as they're able--to achieve as much as possible. We can often see far more than we can do, and this is ever frustrating.
What's the best we can do?
That answer changes day by day, hour by hour--it all depends on what's needed and what the children respond to.
Sometimes we have to remind the students to bear with us, be patient, and trust that we'll find our way to them and their needs, their turn will come, and then we have to make sure that we honor those words by finding time to teach every child as well as we can.
