After reading chapter 15 of classroom management, I started thinking how difficult it is to give the class with children who handle different levels of proficiency. In public schools there are usually children who come from private schools and their English level is very different from the children who have always been in public school and receives fewer hours of English classes and does not receive specialized classes either.
Last year I had children who always answered my general questions, and never gave the opportunity to others, I had to use a technique of using a ball and only the student who has the ball can answer, in this way I could realize if a quiet student knows the answer or not, because his silence may be shyness and not necessarily that he or she does not know the answer.
Another problem is when I make group activities, students who are smart or have a higher level of proficiency always sit together and do not like to work with others. Which is why I had to find a way to build more varied groups.
I understand that this can always happen in a classroom and I will always have to use classroom management techniques to observe which students have a higher level and to adapt the class to a higher level to keep them enthusiastic and also be able to go down to a level of the others.
I think its the best to take some time to identify each type of student I have and then be able to make the adaptations, so I know it will be worth it to have a more balanced and committed classroom.
Observation since the beginning of the year will be my best tool.
Yes, this is always a difficulty, even at SILC, where we have classes based on level. Even within those classes there is a range of abilities.
ReplyDeleteCould you think of ways to get Ss to think of one another and "teammates"? That is, rather than having Ss look at each other as competitors or individuals with no responsibility for others, could you frame the class in such a way that Ss realize that they are supposed to work together? I'm think about those higher level Ss, and how their skills could be harnessed as an asset to the lower level Ss, rather than a source of superiority or shame, pride or embarrassment.
Something to think about.