Reflection2

Ability grouping is used in the classroom to separate students into groups of peers that are at the same skill level. This is done in all grades but when it happens in elementary schools parents and educators have mixed feeling about its effectiveness. In the class I observe ability grouping is done for a variety of reasons. It seems to help the teachers control the classroom and give additional help to the groups that need it.
Since the first day I arrived in the classroom I was told we would be using ability grouping in the day’s instruction. About forty percent of the students in my classes are English learners. These are bright children that try hard at everything they do but since they lack the basic language skills they struggle in certain subjects. My class is divided into three groups: birds, bunnies, and fish. These animals were chosen to represent were the students rank in the class. The birds fly high above the rest; the bunnies roam the middle, while the fish swim below.
Both morning and afternoon kindergarten classes are team taught by two teachers. And on my first day the teachers broke the class up into its groups so that they could work individually with each group on some required subject matter the children needed to know for state tests. This was my first introduction to ability grouping and at first I did not know the class was broken up like this. I was just told I would get to work with each group. I first thought the groups were just to manage the class better, but I soon realized this was not the case. Our first assignment involved following directions, coloring within the lines, cutting, and then pasting. My first group was the birds. This group needed little to no assistance from me. The remembered the instructions, knew how to use the tools needed to finish the project, and did the project promptly. I was surprised how well the first group did and expected the next two groups to be as good as this one. Boy was I wrong. The second group that came to my table was the bunnies. This group was a little distracted, which I thought was due to the fact that recess time was approaching. This group had trouble with every detail of the project. I had to go over some of the details like reminding them to first print their name before beginning, coloring before cutting, and tracing the shapes before coloring so that they did not scribble all over the paper. For the most part this group did well; they finished in an adequate amount of time. The final group I worked with was the fish. This group was made mostly of English learners. They seemed to not know what was going on. Some of the children began to cut others scribbled all over the paper, while a few just stared at me with a scared look on their face. At this point I realized that the groups were more than just a way to break up the room. This group needed so much attention I could not answer all their questions at once. They seemed fidgety, and would tell me things like “I have a cat?” or “Do you have an Xbox?” I tried my best to help them all but at the end of the fifteen minutes more than half of the group had not completed the assignment.
During recess the two teachers pulled me aside and discussed what the groups were all a bout. They explained to me that these groups are essential to their classroom. With such a disparity among the student’s abilities these groups make teaching easier and allow them to give added attention to the groups that need it. Instead of giving one on one help they put students that need added assistance in the same group. They explained to me that the homogenous groups benefit both the student and the teacher. While a majority of the class time is spent in a heterogeneous environment these groups do seem to serve a purpose in the classroom. Their view on ability grouping seems to be a positive one that works best for them. But this made me think back at my own elementary school days. Was I ever grouped by ability? Which group did I fall into? I wonder if these children know they are being grouped on their ability. Because they are so young they probably do not. But once children get into higher grades I am sure they start to realize who is in the “smart” group.
This raises an interesting question about self-esteem and if this may lead to children acting up in class or just not caring because they are not smart enough. From my own experience in the fish group I found that these children seemed distracted and were off task than the rest of the groups. They talked and needed more guidance than the rest. While the other two groups seemed more task oriented they did not help each other. In the fish group one student tried to help the rest by telling them to write their name first in Spanish. I think their lack of knowledge of the English language had more to do with their ability than anything else. When the class is together with all abilities in one large group little behavior problems occur. Maybe one student or two will get reprimanded for talking or not sitting properly but that is it. I do not know if they behave better when I am there but I have not experienced any behavioral problems.
The teachers support ability grouping but only for part of the day. They prefer to have all the children together but because of the large amount of English learners it is essential to work part of the day in ability groups. Since day one I have not done much observing, they put me to work from the beginning. I only observe this classroom on Wednesdays and this is the day they do a majority of their group work because they use me to work with one of the groups. Because of this I have had limited experience with heterogonous groups. Hopefully I can observe the class as a whole in the near future so that I can have a clear understanding of which types of group’s works best.