What are "push in periods"?
Push-ins bring services/staff into the student's regular classroom rather than having the student leave the classroom to meet with the GT teacher (or, in other contexts, a reading support teacher, math interventionist, etc...)
An example of a push in might be where students have been cluster grouped to be based in the same social studies class, but need something more in depth than the class as a whole. A specialist could "push in" and provide instruction and supervision for a research project that is significantly more in depth than what is being required by the class. It's a step beyond typical differentiation because the staffing is provided to make sure that there are instructional components, guided discussion, etc. In a typical sixth grade class, a social studies report may involve working with 1-2 sources, using a notetaking outline to gather information in categories set by the teacher, learning what expository writing looks like and learning how to cite sources with a bibliography. Push-in would be used to serve a student who is ready to develop their own questions, work with multiple sources, use internal citations and perhaps even form a thesis around which to organize what they've learned. If all students in the room are working on research projects (at whatever level) there is no need for the student to leave the room--just a need for staff with adequate time to instruct/guide the student through steps that most of the rest of the class will not be taking.
