[Kat Soghrati]

She made sure that groups worked together by only allowing one group member to raise their hands once the entire group had reached a consensus. She also accepted a variety of answers and then asked several students (from varying groups) to come up and explain and show their answers.  She made sure one possibility was fully discussed before moving onto disproving the other.

[Crystal Harris]

I have used ability grouping and have not ever found it to be successful.  I think mixed grouping is best.  In ability grouping it is hard to challenge the high level group.  And it is hard to find enough time for the low level group.  The middle group is usually the group that gets the most attention.  I see in many classes at the start of the year the teacher will make the Math groups, but these groups never change.  The groups should be ever changing as students improve and new topics emerge.  Lots to think about!

[sarah stagg]

There were many things that stuck out to me about Cathy’s teaching moves. First of all, her demeanor. She treating those students like colleagues.  She spoke in a respectful and somewhat demanding tone that told the students ‘we are here to do business and solve problems.’

I like that she began the mini-lesson with ‘with out using the rule you know, make sense of this.’ Applying a rule that students just memorized was not only not enough, it was banned until the class collaborated and made sense of what they were looking at.

[Erin Chawla]

Thanks for providing this resource, Michael. Mixed ability groupings are a struggle, as many of you have pointed out, as our school system does not support it. In my school board “struggling” students go to another classroom (mine) for Language and Math. The students in my have a huge range in ability and skill set. It becomes a sort of dumping ground for any student who doesn’t fit into the mainstream classroom. Some of my students have significant needs and are years behind. Others have Learning Disabilities, are only slightly behind and all have huge potential that is limited by the system. The kids already feel labelled by having to come in my class, then they feel labelled again when they see the level of work provided to some of their classmates. They are reluctant to collaborate and communicate with one another, as they want to separate themselves from classmates they feel are too different.

I keep trying to improve my own education, so I can provide better programming to help these students see how far they can go and achieve everything they want – but I am fighting so many years of ingrained beliefs my students have about their abilities (and disabilities).

[Diane Cokerdem]

I liked how Cathy never told students they were wrong, but instead asked them to convince others. She also emphasized conceptual understanding over algorithms, which is really important in our world where technology can do the number crunching. In the end, though, her lumber example was not much different than the student who used the line example, and I am left wondering if every student was truly convinced.

[Chana Payne]

The most exciting thing for me about Cathy’s teaching style was making sense of the problems and throwing out all the rules we know about Math. Certainly the rule for dividing fractions is invert and multiply but why? I think why is a very pertinent question that should be asked frequently across the curriculum to further thinking and discussion. I also enjoyed the student discussion time. Cathy encouraged students not only to think about the problem but to convince someone else using the evidence that supports their answer. She never told the wrong student she was wrong, but asked for other thoughts. I would like to know more ways of saying “incorrect” without actually saying it. Cathy encourages diagrams, models and visualization to  aid understanding. The best part was the student with the answer of 6 was able to realize her answer was not entirely wrong when it came to the lumber model using 1 yard. This would encourage the student to think about the Math and how it applies in a variety of scenarios.

[David Gunderson]

What messages do I send to student in class when they know that math is difficult and the student is in a group with the same math ability? My expectations for each math lesson must be clear and understandable before students complete the assigned task. The work that students are given must be at their current math level based on MAP test scores. If the work is to easy, students will be given more challenging tasks to complete. When I meet with students during math, our focus is on the math skill that they are currently working on in class. I do give challenging tasks to all students to better prepare them for real world expectations when they are working full time in the community.

[Christine Camara]

This school year, it will be my focus during maths class to NOT group my students according to their ability levels, but rather by skill set needs. Since my school assesses the kids online, I am able to create reports on areas of need which span across ability level. If I can can create meaningful minilessons which focus on reaching understanding through collaborative tasks, then all students can grow.

[David Meekhof]

While Cathy shared a math question with the class, she withheld the algorithm and opted instead to have students work out their own thinking. She used phrases like “Does it make sense?” and “Convince yourself. Convince a friend. Convince a skeptic.” Cathy gave students time to establish their initial thoughts about the math problem and then gave them additional time to revise their thinking. Interestingly, Cathy gave almost as much time to a student who shared the incorrect answer and the thinking associated with it, as she did for the students who explained the correct answer. Cathy allowed her students to justify their answers. This promotes higher level thinking. She also did not pass judgement on thinking for the incorrect answer. When a student was stuck, Cathy gave the option of having the student ask a friend for support in justifying the answer. She also underscored multiple ways to arrive at the answer. At the end of the video, Cathy used an example that most students would be able to picture in their minds. She made a connection between the math concept and something tangible that most students would understand.

[Indiana Turner]

I noticed that Cathy was conducting a number talk about division of fractions. She used strategic questioning techniques to stretch and support the students’ thinking. I saw that she placed the emphasis on making sense of the problem, draw visuals and encouraging the class to put their heads together to arrive at an answer. The most relevant angle that I observed Cathy do is tie the arithmetic into real world scenarios, to assist with helping the students think differently about the problem. She also served as a facilitator, truly guiding the thought process on the side and concluded with the traditional algorithm.

[Jamie Derrickson]

As a grade level we stopped ability grouping about 5 years ago when my co teacher and I moved to 5th grade together. My co worker was already very skilled in growth mindset through course she had taken and passed along her knowledge to me. We worked very closely to create an integrated ELA/science/health/social studies curriculum and reinstated a math curriculum that we had in previous years at a different grade level. The way we group students was by mixed ability table grouping during our core 120 minute math instruction time. Then for 30 minutes daily we had them grouped by achievement towards standards we were currently working on. This was a time that we could meet with students who were just beginning to understand and reach the standard while those who were proficient or exceeding proficiency could do more open ended questions/tasks independently or as a small group.

The district was really pushing ability grouping and even wanting grouping ability across grade levels (if a 3 rd grader could do 6th grade work, they should be in with the 6th graders doing that type of work). It was a very extreme idea that maybe works at a secondary level, but at an elementary level clearly would be devastating to our students. Even though our district kept saying the words “growth mindset’ after taking this course I realized that it clearly is not correct. Most other grade levels were grouping by ability and having mixed classes but staying in their grade level. This is still not the best we can do for our kids. I am glad that in the district I am in I have the freedom to group the way I think is best for my students.

[Amy Shoemaker]

I agree with your observations of the behavior norms she set up for her class.  I would add that the way she constantly moved around the room, calling on different kids, and then asking all to respond to comments within their table groups fostered an environment of collaboration and reasoning.  Toward the end she used a real life example to try to make connections to the problem.  Rather than doing all the explaining herself, she continually asked students to explain their thinking and convince others.  She also calls on students to disprove another’s thinking in a non-confrontational way,  “Who’s a skeptic?  Why?”

[Amy Shoemaker]

I agree with your observations of the behavior norms she set up for her class.  I would add that the way she constantly moved around the room, calling on different kids, and then asking all to respond to comments within their table groups fostered an environment of collaboration and reasoning.  Toward the end she used a real life example to try to make connections to the problem.  Rather than doing all the explaining herself, she continually asked students to explain their thinking and convince others.

[carolina guerrero]

I feel as if I am teaching to the middle.  In math I usually give a quick routine lesson it could be on number recognition using a 10 or twenty frame or a quick counting up or down etc.  Then I pose a question (story problem, shapes, adding or subtracting).  As a group we have a quick math discussion which leads into teaching a strategy.  Students are than paired off with a partner (random partners monthly) to work out a game using the strategy we discussed or another one.   I usually try to meet with 3 groups.  20-30 min. is set apart for this time.  Many times we are encouraged to get to all groups.  I find it impossible to be able to stop, listen in on their conversation and be able to talk with them and write a note. Time goes by to quickly. If I need a grade< I would have a checklist with a score of 1,2,3.

 

 

[Myra Gercak]

Your last paragraph hits home.  Students change drastically over the summer and the warnings from the previous year’s teachers never came to fruition.  I like to mmet my kiddos with no biases.  I don’t even say to them “I had your sister/brother”.  Every child gets a clean slate every year and I ask them to show me what they’ve got.

[Author]

Posts