I see the benefit to grouping kids with high and low abilities (at two ends of the spectrum) and also in grouping kids who are more alike in ability. However, I appreciate the high-low grouping better simply because I think it fosters confidence in the lower achieving student. I remember having a tutor who was my age in high school teach me math and I loved it. I felt like she was my peer helping me catch up. There wasn't any hint of "I'm better than you" or anything and I don't think that's even possible in 4th grade either! Sometimes I think developing students' confidence is better than focusing primarily on "are they getting it?" because sometimes you have to have confidence before you can do anything. Not to mention, if the kid who is on the lower ability end also has some behavior issues, he or she might learn a little behavior-wise from the more on-track student... -Lauren
Before being a student teacher in the classroom I'm currently in, I don't know if I would've been so pro- grouping. In this classroom we often group the students in math. I think its so helpful especially from the teacher stand point to be able to focus on what the students skill level is at that moment and help them. I like that we constantly evaluate the groupings too, for example, we just started fractions and after a few all class lessons we divided into groups (based on their achievement with long division). We were able to tell right after the first day of groups who should be moved according to their familiarity with fractions. I think grouping can allow students to not get bored but material that is too easy or overwhelmed by material that is too advanced.
My experience is similar to Julia's. Before I began teaching, I felt that leveled grouping could harm students' self-confidence and set them up for a negative self-fufilling prophecy. However, we recently divided students into leveled math groups, and I think their performance and confidence. In the non-leveled math groups I noticed that students were very aware of others finishing quicker than them and understanding concepts better. Some students were especially sensitive to this and they seemed discouraged and unmotivated. It was also difficult to differentiate the instruction effectively for a group of seven students at a wide range of levels. With the leveled grouping, I feel like I can teach more effectively and students feel like they are challenged but not discouraged.
I have struggled with this idea for as long as I have been in grad school. I see plenty of benefits in grouping students by ability. There's more opportunities to develop individualized instruction plans, in addition to students not feeling left behind because they can't keep up with the rest of the class. If it were only in the case of ability, then I would absolutely group students by ability. However this grouping system, which is completely out of the students' control, often leads to social divides and struggles. Students start to know who are the smarter kids and who is struggling. Self confidence gets lowered and soon enough all areas of a student's academic performance start to decrease. Now I'm not saying that ability grouping determines the rise and fall of students who aren't at the top of their class, but it is a very possible scenario.
In our lower school, students are ability grouped in literature groups and for good reason. In our upper school, because of the change in direction in the reading programs (learning to read vs. reading to learn), every student in the class reads the same book at the same time. I think certain models of education lend themselves to ability grouping than others and, in reality, it has to be something that's beneficial to both the students and the teachers. In some ways I agree with ability grouping and in others, which has been the case for me this year, I have found the benefit in having all of the students in the same spot in the curriculum at the same time. It definitely makes assessments and evaluations much easier to fill out.
Good observations, both Jake & Elyssa. What I would suggest is that, as a teacher, you try to do best for the moment and vary what you do. Watch that some students don't get bored and some the idea that they are the dumbest in the class. Teaching is tricky! Nancy
I see the benefit to grouping kids with high and low abilities (at two ends of the spectrum) and also in grouping kids who are more alike in ability. However, I appreciate the high-low grouping better simply because I think it fosters confidence in the lower achieving student. I remember having a tutor who was my age in high school teach me math and I loved it. I felt like she was my peer helping me catch up. There wasn't any hint of "I'm better than you" or anything and I don't think that's even possible in 4th grade either! Sometimes I think developing students' confidence is better than focusing primarily on "are they getting it?" because sometimes you have to have confidence before you can do anything. Not to mention, if the kid who is on the lower ability end also has some behavior issues, he or she might learn a little behavior-wise from the more on-track student...
ReplyDelete-Lauren
Before being a student teacher in the classroom I'm currently in, I don't know if I would've been so pro- grouping. In this classroom we often group the students in math. I think its so helpful especially from the teacher stand point to be able to focus on what the students skill level is at that moment and help them. I like that we constantly evaluate the groupings too, for example, we just started fractions and after a few all class lessons we divided into groups (based on their achievement with long division). We were able to tell right after the first day of groups who should be moved according to their familiarity with fractions. I think grouping can allow students to not get bored but material that is too easy or overwhelmed by material that is too advanced.
ReplyDeleteWhat about the confidence level of the students and their self-image?
ReplyDeleteNancy
My experience is similar to Julia's. Before I began teaching, I felt that leveled grouping could harm students' self-confidence and set them up for a negative self-fufilling prophecy. However, we recently divided students into leveled math groups, and I think their performance and confidence. In the non-leveled math groups I noticed that students were very aware of others finishing quicker than them and understanding concepts better. Some students were especially sensitive to this and they seemed discouraged and unmotivated. It was also difficult to differentiate the instruction effectively for a group of seven students at a wide range of levels. With the leveled grouping, I feel like I can teach more effectively and students feel like they are challenged but not discouraged.
ReplyDeleteI have struggled with this idea for as long as I have been in grad school. I see plenty of benefits in grouping students by ability. There's more opportunities to develop individualized instruction plans, in addition to students not feeling left behind because they can't keep up with the rest of the class. If it were only in the case of ability, then I would absolutely group students by ability. However this grouping system, which is completely out of the students' control, often leads to social divides and struggles. Students start to know who are the smarter kids and who is struggling. Self confidence gets lowered and soon enough all areas of a student's academic performance start to decrease. Now I'm not saying that ability grouping determines the rise and fall of students who aren't at the top of their class, but it is a very possible scenario.
ReplyDeleteIn our lower school, students are ability grouped in literature groups and for good reason. In our upper school, because of the change in direction in the reading programs (learning to read vs. reading to learn), every student in the class reads the same book at the same time. I think certain models of education lend themselves to ability grouping than others and, in reality, it has to be something that's beneficial to both the students and the teachers. In some ways I agree with ability grouping and in others, which has been the case for me this year, I have found the benefit in having all of the students in the same spot in the curriculum at the same time. It definitely makes assessments and evaluations much easier to fill out.
Good observations, both Jake & Elyssa. What I would suggest is that, as a teacher, you try to do best for the moment and vary what you do. Watch that some students don't get bored and some the idea that they are the dumbest in the class. Teaching is tricky!
ReplyDeleteNancy