Dear First-Year Me,
You carry so much excitement, but I see you are wondering if you are in over your head as a first-year math intervention teacher. You’re going to do so much good. But I need to tell you a few things to make this easier for you and your students.
First:
You’re going to be handed a screener. That’s helpful, but it’s not the full picture. You also need to look at the data that other teachers who knew and loved your student in years past have already gathered — report card scores, in-class assessments, notes, reflections, and the observations of someone who already knows this student well. Just because it’s a new year and a new student to you doesn’t mean you’re starting from scratch. Last year’s teacher knew and loved this student and has so much to offer. And yes, someday you’ll fall in love with VLOOKUP to help you pull all of this together.
Oh, and you’ll need a diagnostic. A screener identifies who might need support. A diagnostic tells you what kind of support they need. It’s how you figure out the exact skill that comes next for each individual student.
Second:
The goal of intervention isn’t to keep kids in intervention. It’s to get them out. You are working yourself out of the job, one student at a time. When it’s time to release a student, it will feel bittersweet. You’ll worry about whether they’re ready. You’ll wonder what happens next. But it doesn’t have to be all or nothing. Keep progress monitoring. Drop to once a week. Think creatively about how to support the handoff. They’re not gone. They’re growing.
Third:
The pace is their pace. You don’t move on because the calendar says so. If you’re not going to teach it now, who will? When? Students don’t need more Band-Aids. They need number sense, reasoning, and confidence that allows them to reach a place where they no longer need math intervention. Using the butterfly method because it’s a quick fix for comparing fractions rather than reasoning about size isn’t going to prepare anyone for future fraction skills. No Band-Aids. Get to the root of what your student is missing and spend the time necessary there.
Fourth:
CRA isn’t just a box to check. It’s the foundation. Start with concrete. Move to representational. Then abstract. Rmember, you’re building a web, not a ladder. The work won’t always be linear and your students will move back and forth as they grow and gain confidence in their skills. And manipulatives are not babyish. They’re powerful. The key is to always have a plan to help students move forward and to eventually scaffold the manipulatives away.
Fifth:
You don’t need to be “on” the entire group the entire time. Independent practice is a critical part of the flow. If your room feels calm, that’s not a sign you should be doing more. It’s a sign your students are gaining confidence and ownership.
And finally:
Grade level teacher team dynamics will shape everything. How your groups form, how flexible your schedule is, how you pick up or release students — it’s all tied to team culture. Relationships matter. Trust matters. Build it early.
You’re not going to get everything perfect. You’re not supposed to. Keep your students and their needs at the forefront of your mind and don’t cut corners to get them to where they need to be. It will all be fine!
Sincerely,
Your Future Self
