The main concept of this module was tracking/grouping based on students' ability and skill levels. The module discusses within-class and between-class grouping. Both of these give benefits to the high-achieving students, but they don't really give as many benefits to the lower-achieving and lower-class students. It is important to point out that students from minority groups are often wrongly placed in the lower-ability group. However, in general, tracking leads to many benefits such as higher self-esteem, usually a more beneficial learning atmosphere for students of all ability levels, and more positive attitudes. The flexible grouping method is important because it allows teachers to work at a pace that is most appropriate for their students. Cooperative learning must hold both the individual and the group accountable, requires social skills, and group work. It is important to note, as teachers, that cooperative learning mostly benefits the lower-performing students without many benefits to the higher-performing students.
One question I have is how can we create groups without the students knowing who the high- and low- performing groups are? I remember in my middle school, our math groups were called Math 1, Math 2, Math 3, and Math 4. This seems a little dumb to me because it was known to all the students that Math 1 was the "smart class" and Math 4 was the "dumb class." All the students knew about the grouping. So how can teachers be more discreet about grouping based on students' abilities?
Vygotsky believed that social interactions are very important in development and learning. Vygotsky believed that learning is not done individually.
Vygotsky would probably use heterogeneous grouping because it allows for a bigger range of ability, meaning that the lower-performing students would be able to get help from the higher-performing students. The higher-performing students would also understand the material better by teaching their fellow classmates.
The main difference between Vygotsky and Piaget is their views on learning and development. Piaget believes that a child must develop into a certain stage of thought before he or she can truly learn. Vygotsky, however, believed that learning precedes development.
I am being influenced right now because I have instant access to the internet for any research I might need and a textbook and notebook that follows along with what my teacher says. I am also in the same room as another P251 student from a different section whom I could use a resource as well. Reading and commenting on other students' blog posts is also influencing my thought.
In the preschool I worked in we used "Watermelons, Lemons, and Blueberries" and the following year we used "Giraffes, Elephants, and Tigers" as the grouping levels. Using themes unrelated to the level can help disguise the leveling that is taking place. However this may be a little to childish for older students. You can try something like "Math Magicians for Math 1 and Math Movie Stars for Math 2" This way children do not know which group is which. You could also have the group come up with a name.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Jessie said. I have seen the "Watermelons, Lemons, and Blueberries" method being used in classrooms before. However, she is right that older students will catch on pretty fast and those names will not help keep the ability levels discreet. What I saw in my field experience classroom last week was that all the students were required to move around in three different classrooms for math. My supervising teacher told me that her class was for the advanced students, but they didn't know that because there were no names for their classes. They were placed in these different math levels by their placement tests and the previous year's math scores. There were three levels, advanced, intermediate, and beginners, but these names were never used in front of the students. They learned the same material but at a different pace. For students in elementary school, labels are not needed. Instead, the period in which math occurs can just be referred to as Math, without using any names.
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