Brian Ross
T O P I C :
To Manage and Learn, Too
Brian Poses the Question. . . .
October 24, 2007
My mentor has two standards with classes we teach. In our advanced classes (mostly very good students, not disruptive at all, hard workers), we rarely use group work. This works fine with these classes. The students are highly motivated and consistent in doing homework and being disciplined in class. In our remedial class, we have a very diverse student population. The diversity is not limited to race. Even more than the racial differences, there is a huge disparity between learning levels, prior knowledge, ability levels, and discipline needs. We do a lot of group work with those students. For the most part, they have a short attention span. Group work is effective sometimes, but many times leads to nothing getting done. It does help manage the class some, because it allows them an outlet for their energy and talking needs, but does not seem to promote learning with the lower level students. We had more than a few students fail the first quarter. How can we manage the classroom without sacrificing student learning?
Planet Gnosis is directed by Dr. Freddie A. Bowles,
Assistant Professor of Foreign Language Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. Planet Gnosis is dedicated to the exploration of education and teaching. It is a cybersite of CornDancer.com, a developmental website for the Mind and Spirit. Submissions are invited. |
|