First of all classrooms need to be smaller. There is no way a teacher can handle different needs, when she has a large class. You may have a classroom of forty students. Lets see, you have the gifted, the average, the below average, the emotionally immature, and with mainstreaming, the students with dyslexia, Attention Deficient Disorder.

So the teacher tries to give remedial instruction to the students, who did not quite make the grade last year and were just passed on. While she is helping them the average and the gifted students are not getting the benefit of her time, and they are bored. Some of them act out.

Now she has to try to make her classes interesting enough so that all students are interested, not bored, and pay attention or at least are quiet enough so that the students who really want to learn can do so. Make sure that students that she is not working with have something worthwhile to do.

Classrooms should be smaller.

Gifted students should be placed in accelerated work programs, where they bounce their idea off other gifted students.

Remedial students should have a classroom of their own, like in college.

Insufficient time is why teachers burn out.

It’s hard work but can be done — use centers. Each student has a folder in each center. You need to find activities that teach each student the same thing – called parallel curriculum. This is called differentiated instruction and there is a lot of information out there. So worksheets may be different, to some students you will provide some of the information (Such as word banks or page numbers) and to some you will give simple assignments, and some will be on their own. Presentation of information or knowledge kids get can also be presented in a variety of ways… a speech, a written report, a poster presented just to you or presented to the class. Tests are not the only way to show you that kids are getting the information. Wish you had said what it is you are teaching and it would have been easier to give you ideas. Good luck.

Your problem is just a simple problem that always happened in schools, all you need is a division of labors, how to do it?

a) determine how many activities at hand that needs everybody’s attentions.

b) survey the interest of every students.

c) if you have say 5 activities, then divide the group into 5 and choose a leader to lead each group.

d) Base on their interest assigned the activities to the groups,

e) you may act as the over all leader, your attention shall be concentrated on their accomplishment per day.

If you were given a number of days by your teacher to complete the activities, then, you as the over all leader should advise your group leaders about this so that they can make their schedule properly.

Break the class into groups and then deal by ability or achievement level. Then deal with the groups.