One of the main ideas that caught my attention in this
chapter was the idea of guided reading groups. While I was reading this it made
me think about the fine line that exists between grouping the higher ability
and the lower ability. How can we as educators make this divide less evident?
This chapter discussed the idea of flexible grouping. This
is so vital when it comes to picking groups. Once a student feels like they are
stagnant in the same group, how can they feel as if they can improve or thrive
to be their best? It is important that we are making sure that we are regularly
assessing their growth in order to provide them with a challenging learning
atmosphere.
While picking groups the text also discussed the idea of not
picking students for certain groups based on one assessment. This is important
because while one student may be behind in one area, they could be advanced in
another. Thinking of my future classroom, I would like to set up my weekly
guided reading groups based on the strengths and weaknesses of my students in
different selected areas. This will also help with the flexibility of my
grouping. I plan to take anecdotal records, projects, journals, and daily
assessment into account. This will help to give a more well rounded and
accurate read on where the student is and what they need help with.
While I am working on my literacy unit project it has really
challenged me in this area. I have found that scaffolding is key when it comes
to designing a guided reading lesson. It is important that our students are learning
the same strategies. It also made me realize how much pressure that places on
teachers. We must make sure that our students keep learning regardless of where
they are. By having high expectations for all of our students, it will show our
students that they are valued no matter what group they are in.
Abbie I totally agree with you. Being flexible with your students and their groups is very important. I thought of the same thing about placing students into groups based on their areas of strength and areas of weakness. It makes it less evident between high achieving and low achieving learners because all students have their areas where they are strong and areas where they are weak. I also agree that is very important to monitor our students progress and to constantly switch up groups so students have little opportunity to be stagnant, and continue to grow.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you when you said that you have to be flexible. Not every classroom is perfect and not every student is perfect. I believe that when you pick groups you do have to be careful where you are placing students. You have to make sure that they are working with different people throughout the year because they will learn different things from different people. Make sure that you are always mixing the different abilities within each group. If you always put the lower students together they are never going to want to push themselves to become a higher student.
ReplyDeleteFlexibility should be applied throughout teaching, not just with grouping. There may be times where instead of teaching the lesson you had planned, it may be better to do a teachable moment. With groups it is hard, because teachers need to be aware of all personalities, and social interactions.
ReplyDeleteFlexibility is key when it comes to teaching in a classroom. This allows you to help students at different ranges of time and it shows that you're open to whatever is needed attended to. I love your idea about keeping track of your student's in the classroom. I would love to do that in my class as well. I would want to have a progress notebook for each student and track their progress therefore, if they are exceeding expectation, are going at a normal pace, or are under where they need to be, I can track it and fix it if needed.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Abbie that flexibility is the key to teaching in the classroom. It shows that you can roll with the punches and that you do not get flustered with change. Also, flexibility with grouping is a great way to organize your classroom.
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