Why is my kid in intervention?

Middle school parents -  I'm sure you are asking yourself the question, "Why is my kid in intervention when he/she scored so well on the Ohio Achievement Assessment" The past few days many of you have stopped in to pick up your child's schedule for the upcoming school year. Yes, there have been a few changes. First, every student in middle school has intervention on their schedule. But, it's not the intervention you are used to. It's different for a number of reasons.

Before I explain the new intervention I must say that I should have used a different name. Intervention can have a negative connotation. Think of it from now on as Trojan Time.

Trojan Time will be a fluid and ever changing grouping of students based on the needs of students at the time. What this means is that teachers will have the opportunity to schedule different groups or rotate students to reinforce and reteach concepts the students are learning. By creating Trojan Time I have tried to empower the teachers to push our highest performing kids forward and also provide assistance to any student that stumbled on a particular concept. There may be times when students have two periods of math to catch up and there may be times when students are working on a digital project.

Please understand that learning is messy. As we transition to the Trojan Time/Intervention for all model there will be snags along the way. But we are creating and working very hard to do what is best for our kids. In the past intervention was created to help struggling students. Now it is so much more. We will leverage technology to create opportunities for kids to be creative, accelerate and connect. 

Starting with a one cohort from each grade level in middle school I will be personally involved in creating a student blog as a portfolio. Don't panic... we can make it as public or private as you like. Students will create a variety of items that demonstrate their understanding of concepts they are learning and share them on their own blog. By categorizing and tagging each post they will have a record of everything they have learned. The ultimate goal would be that each student maintains their blog throughout their school career. The blog will be a positive digital footprint for each child and a wonderful resource to share when applying for scholarships and job opportunities.

This will be an exciting journey as we start the new year. Trojan Time will be what separates us from everyone else. I look forward to the opportunities we can create for our kids to be highly successful!

If you have questions or concerns do not hesitate to ask.

Mr. Gallwitz