I don’t know how many times I’ve heard, read, or said it: the
“I” in IEP stands for individualized. Indeed, the goal of
special education is to come together as a team to create an
appropriate learning environment that meets the individualized
needs of our exceptional students. In a larger sense, the aim of
all education is to recognize every student’s needs and
differentiate within the classroom to see to it that all their
individual needs are met. Hmmm. Everybody say it with me,
“Easier said than done.” Let me explain my work environment: My
district serves a small student population. It is so small that
we do not receive funding to hire a teacher for every grade
level. Rather, we have three multi-grade classrooms to serve
grades K–8 and the general education teachers must figure out a
way to teach the state standards to three or four different
grade levels at the same time. Don’t forget your classroom
dynamic being affected by the maturity disparity you might
imagine between, say, your most immature third