Last night I was talking with my parents, and somehow we got on the subject of learning. We got talking about differences in a class in terms of where children are at and how to teach to a room of 25 students who are all on completely different levels. Is it possible to challenge each and every student?
My Mom talked about her 4th grade teacher who had the class split into three groups. They were obviously divided by skill level: an upper group, an average group, and a below group. The teacher had different lesson plans for each subject for each and every group. Now, when I think about that, my first thought is, oh man; we could never get away with that now! My second thought is, wow, that would be a ton of work and planning! Yet, through this, my Mom still remembers this teacher and considers her to be the best teacher she ever had because every single student was challenged. They never got bored, and they were always learning.
That is the kind of teacher I desire to be. I want each of my students to feel challenged, but capable. However, I know that I could never divide a classroom like my Mom's teacher did. So, I'm left with wondering what kinds of things I could do in a classroom today that could accomplish the same thing?
I really believe in group work, but the temptation with groups is to clump according to ability. I would love to have a chance to experiment with a class and different ways of grouping. It would be interesting to see how a group composed of all skill levels was able to work together.
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