When creating materials for instructing your students, you have to be prepared for all eventualities. Whether it is students from other nations who don't speak English well, students who have disabilities that cause extra considerations when teaching them, or simply students who aren't grasping ideas or are moving faster than you're ready for. Each of these eventualities, which all teachers, even in private schools, will likely run into in some way, shape, or form, must be planned for. Here is a link to my personal flow chart for dealing with these eventualities (it may be a little small, in which case you'll have to open it on the website to zoom in).
Students Falling Behind (If a word is in bold, it's for the assignment. They might just be key words)
ELL Students
Over the course of a lesson or year, you may find that students are falling behind. There are many reasons this might be. The student may be an English Language Learner (or any other home language, if you're reading this in a country where English is not the native language) trying to comprehend instructions in a language foreign to them. In this instance, the onus is on the teacher to incorporate the student into the main classroom. As cited in the blog post by Jennifer Gonzales, the creator of the Cult of Pedagogy blog site, there are many steps one can take to help the student even in secondary school.
Helping an ELL student may require the teacher to make process changes to their lessons, such as making the lessons more visual and require less written or auditory instructions, or, if that is difficult (as it might often be in my own line of interest, English Language Arts) it may become important to focus on group work or, if possible, pairing the student with someone who speaks their native language (mentioned furthermore as L1). Changing the learning environment in such a way can really help. Students often learn from each other, so a group can help someone who doesn't quite grasp a concept on their own get it from others who may explain it in a way that clicks for them. And, should another student be able to understand the ELL's L1, this can help get the ELL through some of their awkwardness and fear that they won't say what they mean.
This idea carries over into writing: if the ELL understands the question, but can't quite figure out how to say it in English, let them write in their L1. You won't understand it without a translator, it is true, but this affect change can help them brainstorm where they are comfortable before delivering a more well-written final product. You may need the help of a translator or ESL teacher to help get the writing into something you understand, but it's better than having the student sit there doing nothing. And, if you must force an ELL student to speak when they're worried about it, make sure to give them scaffolding and help them through cultural language that is unique to your own country so that they know what to say and aren't confused by odd language uses.
For the unit I have been describing in other posts, involving language use in different contexts, an ELL student, while at an advantage for translating things, as they are already working on picking out nouns, verbs, and important parts of speech, will be at a severe disadvantage when it comes to idioms, vocabulary, and explaining the thoughts in their mind, but I am sure that the insight they can bring to the table could be invaluable to native speakers, while they could learn quite a lot about our language in the process.
Disabilities
IDEA identified disabilities run the gamut, and if they have yet to be identified, it can be a problem figuring out how to differentiate instruction for your students. Luckily, students identified early often come with IEPs (Individualized Education Program) that identify what a student needs and what considerations may be needed to help a student along in their learning. Often, giving them a little more help, something to focus on, or a little extra time to work on subjects can do quite a lot when it comes to helping students. If you don't know if a student has a disability, but you suspect it, you may need to begin gathering the data for a referral. These processes are long and specified by the state, so I won't go into them here, but in these instances you'll have to be the judge of the student's needs, so you'll just have to get to know them better and keep a close eye on them.
When it comes to disabilities, as an English teacher, I can think of one that could really be tricky to deal with: Visual Impairment. Luckily, there is a website designed to give help for just this kind of thing: www.teachingvisuallyimpaired.com.
For myself, in that same unit I mentioned above where students would need to learn based on language in context, there would need to be a lot of process considerations for a blind student. For starters, anything given in written form would have to be read aloud or provided in braille for the student to read, which could limit the student from projects where one student needs to write anything another one reads and corrects. Secondly, any advertisements or videos shown would have to come with a clear auditory component for the student, and any visuals would need to be explained. And, of course, considerations of seating, floor plans, and many other factors of the learning environment would need to be kept in mind. However, if a blind student was falling behind due to poor planning, the teacher's job would be to figure out how to make the class work for the student. This may involve a lot of reading aloud, or giving special versions of the test for the student to fit with their impairment, or letting them give oral presentations when other students are giving written ones, letting them produce a product that might be different from other students'. No matter the considerations, though, it is important not to leave a student behind for any reason, and they'd need to be kept up to speed as much as any other student.
Not Grasping the Concept
There are two categories of students who are falling behind: those who don't get it, and those who would get it, but you're not teaching it how they'd understand. The second one is a problem on the instructor's end, where your process simply isn't correct. This can be fixed in many ways, such as giving more visual instructions to visual learners, more movement opportunities to kinesthetic learners, or figuring out how to better blend your learning environment to appeal to all types of learners. Having students help each other, particularly ones who are getting the idea or moving ahead, can do wonders when it comes to helping a struggling student understand. Even getting to know them can be useful, though often the main use of this change of affect, apart from increased camaraderie, is to better learn how it is the student learns. Giving many creative options for what product they can return can also do wonders to help build student interest in learning and let them know that the process is fun and engaging.
For students who just aren't grasping it, even when you've changed all of the things above, there are three ideas I rather like to consider: tutoring, peer help, and reteaching. The first individualizes the student, giving them exactly the help they need, though they might end up feeling like the affect is a bit much, turning sour on the idea or feeling like a dunce. Having other students help with group work in a friendlier learning environment can help students who don't want to learn from a teacher, for one reason or another, get the information without feeling like it is being given from someone they don't care about. However, should neither of these ideas help, you might simply have to reteach the lesson for the students who didn't get it the first time, attacking it from a new angle and carefully explaining what they need to know. This might involve changing the process to be more visual or involve more movement to fit the learner's style, but whatever you do, you must make sure the information is successfully passed on.
Students Running Ahead
While this might not seem like an issue, or may even seem like a blessing to a teacher, a gifted student comes with its own set of problems. As one myself when I went through school, I know just how aggravating it can be to be stuck in a class when you're leagues ahead of everyone else and the teacher doesn't know what to do with you. Luckily, the internet is now a very common, well understood thing, and there are websites dedicated to this sort of thing.
The first thing you should do, as a teacher with a gifted student, is see if their parents are willing to put them in any sort of gifted and talented programs the school may have. Some parents might not want to for whatever reason, but the child shouldn't be forced to lag behind if it can be avoided.
If they do remain in your classroom, you should get to know them a little better. A friendly affect can help you determine how they best learn, letting you create advanced learning opportunities for them and additional challenges to help them strive forward. These shouldn't be side tangents or meaningless busywork, but actual process advancement in their learning past what everyone else is getting, with an expectation for an equally advanced product.
If the student wants to help, they can become perfect peer mentors for struggling children, helping to explain the concepts to the other students in ways they might understand. Be careful with this, though, as it is not the gifted student's job, and is taking time away from their advanced learning. Also, not all gifted students, like me, are going to want to be teachers, and if they don't want to help teach, don't force them. Whether they are willing to be a peer mentor or not, make sure you continue to challenge them to do their best and keep learning. Squashing their enthusiasm for learning is the worst thing you can do.
References:
Tomlinson, C. A. (n.d.). What it Means to Teach Gifted Learners Well. Retrieved from https://www.nagc.org/resources-publications/gifted-education-practices/what-it-means-teach-gifted-learners-well
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