Student Grouping and Differentiation

When I think of student grouping, I think about group work to solving a problem. For me, student grouping isn’t just putting students in groups according to their learning styles but grouping them together to be successful. When I group students, one student is strong in the subject and the other is SPED. The stronger student is aware of the partnership and agrees to work with that student. I’ve observed several classes where teachers have grouped students based on learning styles. In my eyes, this way doesn’t work. My stronger students form a friendship when they work with lower students. Most teachers wouldn’t see this as a positive but for me it is. Stronger advanced students normally don’t socialize with lower students but getting them to talk and interact makes them form a friendship. Stronger students are helping and guiding the lower student to the correct answer which boost both student’s confidence in the subject.

I’m not saying that my way is perfect because I nothing is perfect about teaching. I’ve learned in my two years, that you learn from mistakes and feedback. I do have some stronger students who will become impatient and just do all the work. They look for the answers, pretend that they’re reading together and give the answers without actually helping the lower students. If this is done, no one in the group benefits. This is where you build a rapport with your students. I know my students. I can look at them and see when something is not right. This is the situation that you would pull that rapport into effect. However, I am saying that grouping students who will genuinely help each other will benefit social skills and confidence.

Before becoming a teacher, I’ve always liked student grouping. When I was in middle school, those days of group work meant the most. I learned from my friends what I couldn’t learn from the teacher. I’ve always been told that students learn from their friends faster than their teachers and it’s true. The light bulb went off when a friend explained and because I know this by experience group work for my class is mandatory. For both classes, language arts and science, I have my students conducting labs or writer workshops.

Student grouping is just another form of differentiation for me. I modify a lot of my instructional time to meet every need. What I’ve observed the most is music. My students love music. So I’ve add music to everything. I added music to my power-points, I play Kids Bop during class work, and I play educational raps for them. These raps are not only entertaining but they comprehend the information. Modifying lessons can be hard especially if you’re limited on time but the outcome is greater. "All students need to reach the same goals, some will take more time and others will take less time to do so" (Slavin, 2014, p.224).