Problem of Practice
My problem of practice is an age old problem. My classes are so diverse with so many different kinds of students with different kinds of backgrounds and skills. My students are different in terms of socio economic status and the amount of available technology that they have at home. They are also different in terms of needs, disabilities, strength levels and interests. I am having an especially hard time with my 8th period class. This class has very high leveled students. Students that may be even smarter than me in terms of coding and computer programming. I also have students in this class who are classified and have IEP's and are reading at a 1st grade level. Throughout all my classes I have students that move from home to home in foster care and may not have technology available to them at all times. But then, I also have students that have built their own computers and have all the necessary equipment for that. My issue is about how to meet the needs of my diverse population.
Hi Christy,
ReplyDeleteYou kept your problem of practice, "How can I meet the needs of my diverse population," simple and broad. You did not jump to solutions or conclusions. I think this will help you investigate from multiple perspectives.
I don't know if I have too much to add at this point because you have clearly put a lot of thought into this. Have you considered exchanging "diverse population" with "all students." Perhaps this will keep you hyper-focused on individualizing the curriculum and pathways even more? When I think of "diverse population" I think it's easy to put students into groups when the most powerful solution will come as we see students as individuals. I hope this is helpful. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Hi Christy,
ReplyDeleteWhen I click on "read more", the formatting makes it difficult to read your post. Can you fix this? You have black text on a black background. I had to copy and paste your post in Word to be able to read it.
I have a few questions, maybe it can help me understand your issue of meeting the needs of your diverse population or as Amy suggested, exchanging "diverse population" with "all students."
Are your lessons web based or do they reside on the local computers they work on in the classroom? Do you have students work in groups? Do you know if the students who move around in foster care have the option to use the computers at the library? If your students do work in groups, are they always paired up with the same students (advanced with advanced, etc.)? If so, would mixing up the groups every other day or weekly to have all levels work with each other? If your lessons are web based, wouldn’t this allow for those who do not have the technology resources be able to use their local library to complete their assignments? Sorry if I’m asking more questions rather than offering concrete suggestions to your problem of practice.
Annmarie
Annmarie,
DeleteMy lessons are web based usually. I almost always have the students working in pairs or threesomes. The public library is quite far for the students to get to, and a lot of the times the students have problems with transportation to and from the library. I mix my groups up every single week. On some weeks students are grouped with similar abilities so that I can give more one on one attention, and then on other weeks I have higher leveled students working within lower leveled student groups.