7/28/2019 Inclusive Classroom Grouping Project
1/1
GroupingStudentsinanInclusiveClassroomInaninclusiveclassroom,groupingstudentswithvaryinglearningstylesandabilitiescanpresentquiteachallenge.
Forour
latestproject,myteachingpartnerand
Idrewfromrealworldscenariostopursueasolution.
Ourgoalwastodesigna
groupingprocessundertheprinciplesofmaximizingstudentchoiceandbeingasauthenticaspossibleinrelationtoareal
workingenvironment.
Understandably,toomuchstudentchoicecanhaveitsdrawbacks,asstudentsaresusceptibletonot
usingthebestjudgmentwhenchoosingpeerstoworkwith.
Experiencehasshownthatstudentledgroupingcantendto
turn intoapopularitycontest ifnotwellstructured.
Asaresult,weattemptedtocreateanapproachthatenabledeach
studenttomakethemostwellinformedchoicespossiblebasedoffoftheirperceivedstrengths,weaknesses,rapportwith
groupmembers,andoverallinterestlevel.
Whatresultedwasanorganicformationofprojectgroupswithseeminglybetter
matchedskillsetsthanwhatwecouldhavechosensolelyasteachers,anditwasselfdirected.
SettingtheStageProvidingthestudentsthemeanstobecomewellinformedwasparamounttothesuccessofthegroupingprocess.
Aswe
began todevelopourapproach,wedecidedonspecificcriteria
thatwouldbenecessary for students tomake informed
decisions
forchoosinggroupmates,andalsodeterminedwhichessentialskillsetswouldenableeachgroup
tocreatea
qualityfinalproduct.
Eachgroupwouldrequireresearch,writing,artistic,andtechnicalskills.
Wehadallofthestudents
perform introductoryactivities thatmirroredprocesses involved
inmaking the finalproduct,and thenperformselfand
peerassessmentsoftheirperformance. Fromthat
information,thestudentswereabletobetter isolatetheirstrengths,
andalsodeterminewhattheycouldconfidentlycontributetoapotentialgroup.
ImplementingtheProcessTo begin the grouping process, we
initially had every student
research a contemporary tipping point of their choosing.
They
thenhad toperformaquickpitch to the class aboutwhy their
researchshouldbeselectedandpursued. Fromstudentfeedback
andourown impressions,wechosethemostcompellingpitches
andtopicstobeginthegroupformation. Thestudentswhowere
chosenwerelabeledasresearchers,anditwasuptothemtoput
togethera research team tocontinue the researchandcreatea
RSAstyle animation to present their findings. Meanwhile, the
remaining students reflectedon their strengthsandprepared to
participateinaninterviewprocesswitheachoftheresearchersin
orderforthemtochoosewhichteamtheywouldbemostfitting.
Theentiredurationofthe interviewprocess lasted1hourwith5
minute rotations. Each researcher and candidate met during
these brief times to exchange information and bridge
connections. Afterwards,thestudentswerepromptedtofillouta
sheet thatdetailed thenamesofwho theywouldwant towork
with
and
why
they
would
make
a
good
fit.
AssemblingtheGroupsFrom the gathered student information,
grouping became a
simple process of matching skill sets with student
preferences/choices. Each individualwas placedon a team for
whichtheyhadaninvestedinterestandwasawareoftheirvalue
tothegroup.
