Helping Students Learn

Teaching a classroom full of students on different levels is very difficult. Some students can pick up material quickly and come to the class with lot of background knowledge and others haven't had the same opportunities. It is important for teachers to treat students as individual entities requiring different levels of instruction and processes. Many times, a lot of the focus is toward students that struggle and need extra assistance. On the other side of the spectrum are students that are generally high-achieving and need more challenging activities.
As we talked about it class, using formative assessments is a great way to see students' base knowledge and see the gains they make. When a teacher has a physical example of the students' work, they can adapt their lesson to help the students. A good way to do this is readiness groups, which we also talked about in class and in this article. By grouping kids of similar needs, we can ensure that students get the best out of school. These are not set in stone groupings, they are going to vary from subject to subject and topic to topic. By having these groupings, not only can kids that struggling get more assistance, but students that have mastered the content may be moved on to a more stimulating project. In this way, "a student 'compacts out of' work that is redundant" (SMART 94). If they have mastered a material or skill, then they do not need to sit and get bored with information they already know. They can work with others of their level and take their learning and expand on it.
A lot of these strategies are such that not only assist struggling kids, but also higher level kids. Something that is designed to help one group of students can also help another. For example, when the light switch is flat, it not only helps disabled people, but also people carrying things (Carbaugh). One way of doing this is allowing "students to choose partners" (SMART 86). That way, students that are more knowledgeable in one aspect can pair with another person they feel is on their level. Letting students choose their partners also makes the activity more fun for them. One last idea for helping students is to use problem-based learning (SMART 96). These are activities similar to our transfers goals, that help students connect their learning with real-world problems. Teachers can give students a vague problem, and help the students come to a solution on their own, applying their knowledge. These problem-solving skills are important for students because being able to think is a skill that we take for granted. Having ideas and creating ways to accomplish our tasks is basically life. After all, as teachers, we prepare our students for more than just school; we set them up for life.

(If this isn't a 2 I need help, I really don't know what I'm doing wrong)