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Mauritius: Strategies for Managing a Mixed-Ability Classroom
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L'Express (Port Louis)
30 October 2007
Posted to the web 31 October 2007
By Shardha SANDAPEN
Port Louis
For many teachers, uncertainty about how to manage a differentiated classroom grows into a fear that stops us from attempting to provide instruction based on our students' varied interests and needs.
Piaget (1969) reflects, "The heartbreaking difficulty in pedagogy, as indeed in medicine and other branches of knowledge that partake at the same time of art and science, is, in fact, that the best methods are also the most difficult ones." Although managing a differentiated classroom is not always easy, progress in that direction tends to make school a better fit for more students. It also tends to make teaching more satisfying and invigorating.
The following is a list of five (out of ten) key strategies that we can use to successfully meet the challenge of designing and managing differentiated instruction for our learners:
Have a strong rationale for differentiating instruction based on student readiness and interest. Then share our thinking with our students as often as possible. Just as teachers sometimes need help creating new mental images of classrooms as places that are fluid and offer many avenues to learning, so do students and even parents. If we help our students and parents understand and contribute to our new views of the classroom, they will be able to adapt. Without our help, they may feel that we are "violating the rules of the game," and then they may become confused or resistant.
Begin differentiating at a pace that is comfortable for us (teachers). Many of us are used to making adjustments in curriculum and instruction to allow for student differences in the classroom. With just a few additional guidelines, these teachers are ready to move ahead quickly in differentiating instructions. Others who are less experienced or confident need to move in smaller increments. There's a strong parallel to students in a classroom here: some leap like leopards through a given task, others move at more measured gait. What matters most is that students - and teachers- make progress from their respective beginning points, not that they all work alike.
Time differentiated activities for student's success. Some students can manage group or independent work for long periods of time. Others have less capacity to sustain group or independent tasks. When designing these tasks, remember two things (1) time allotted for a task should be a bit shorter than the attention span of the students who work on that task, and (2) advanced learners often have extended attention spans. When designing tasks for students with strong interest and ability in a particular area, allow a longer chunk of time during a class, day, or week than the amount of time planned for tasks for students whose interest or talent in the same area is not as great.
Use an "anchored activity" to free ourselves up to focus our attention on our students. In almost every classroom, all students from time to time engage in activities like reading, journal writing, and practicing (spelling and vocabulary).
Begin by teaching the whole class to work independently and quietly on these tasks. Then move towards having half of the class work on the anchored activity (which can be adjusted to student readiness and interest), while the other half engages in a different content-based activity designed specifically for their needs. This helps us feel less fragmented in the beginning, because a sizable portion of the class will be engaged in work that is largely self directed, freeing us to guide students in the newer and " less predictable" tasks.
5. Create and deliver instruction carefully. Giving multiple directions to the class as a whole is confusing and calls too much attention to who is doing what. Creating and giving task cards or assignment sheets to individuals or groups work as well, as does going over an assignment with a few responsible students today so that they can share it with their groups tomorrow.
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(Tomlinson.C.A,1995, How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms, Alexandria, Virginia, ASCD)
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