What modifications for learners who are exceptional do you see?

This last week at school, I had a great time with the students. I worked for about an hour doing cold and hot reads with the children. One way the teacher makes modifications for the children who are exceptional is by letting them advance in the reading selections, so they are reading stories that are more of a challenge for them. That way they don't get bored, and are able to increase their knowledge at a faster pace then the other children.
Another way is by the homework the teacher sends. I put together packets for the children, and there were three different types: A, B, and C. Each packet was a different level of difficulty. The teacher knows which children are exceptional and gives them the more difficult packet to the kids who can handle it.
I can think of many different modifications made for those who are struggling. I think its great that there isn't a one-size-fits-all curriculum for the children. Each child learns differently, and has various strengths and weaknesses.

One on one time with a student

• Tell about an opportunity you had to work one on one with a student.

I had an excellent time volunteering in my classroom this week. The teacher had me work in two 1st grade classrooms helping children with their fluency. I was able to work one on one with children for almost the whole two hours, while also observing the class and teachers. Basically there is a binder full of stories and records for each child. I would have a child come and sit by me, and read to me a story from the binder. I would time the child for 1 minute and then count how many words they read, and how many mistakes were made. Then I would read the story to them, and give them the story to take back to their desk to read again. Then after doing this with a couple of students, I would pull the first student back and have them read me the story again. I would again have them read me the story again, time them, and count their words and mistakes. Almost consistently, the student would double their word count the second time. The teacher called the first read a "cold read" and the second one a "hot read". I was able to do this with about 20 students total. 

I really enjoyed being able to have this one on one time, and it made me think of the Ruby Bridges story we have been studying about. Ruby's first year at William Frantz school, no teacher would allow her in their class except for Barbara Henry. Ruby was Mrs. Henry's only student that year, and they did everything together. Mrs. Henry sat next to Ruby in a desk instead of stood in front of her. She did jumping jacks with her inside, instead of going to recess and they ate lunch together in the classroom. I think we can learn from Mrs. Henry's compassion toward the individual. A lot of times teacher's don't get to spend a lot of individual time with students when they have a full classroom, but we can try to get to know students and show them we care with one on one time.