Like most of us, whole group instruction is what I knew from experience. In studying education we were taught to write lesson plans for whole group. I loved it. I loved being the star of the show with the challenge of keeping the class engaged with eye contact and nods.
My first aha of, 'Oh, this may not be working', was in my tutoring groups when I realized they didn't learn the stuff I taught so beautifully. And, of course, they didn't speak up and say, 'I just don't get this'. . . but they did speak up in the tutoring group.
TUTORING
So I tutored anyone who would come before school, after school, or even during lunch. We had great conversations, they could do the work in front of me, and I loved the 'Oh, now I get it!' light bulb moments. There were some problems. I was running myself ragged with teaching WELL beyond the school day. Kids were exhausted. Well, the kids who came were exhausted. There was another group who just didn't have it to show up before or after school. They are kids for goodness sake! But if small group worked, why not do it DURING my class time.
CENTERS
I started centers so I could have that magical sweet-spot of teaching with small groups. I created organized spreadsheets with groups organized by their abilities, attention spans, and personalities. By moving furniture around, I had areas for awesome learning. Areas for computers, interactive learning games, quiet practice, and background literature. My table was situated so I could see all of the action while I worked with my small group. We set the timer and when the buzzer buzzed, students moved to their next center. The small group utopia had been solved. It was like classroom ballet... kinda. When it came to independent work I had the Goldilocks problem - too hot or too cold. And I am not sure how well you know kids, but not all of them work at the same speed, so that buzzer thing was a problem. It needed some adjusting, some tweaking, and just some re-thinking.
ZONES
Menus were not new to me, but I had never thought of making my whole class a giant menu... but that is what I did. My goal was to train my students to make wise academic choices so they were challenged at 'just the right' level, but also had a choice in the TYPE of assignment. Since students do not work at the same pace, and some could have wonderful quality if they were given ample time, I gave them an entire week to work on the menu.
The menu had three categories (review, apply, extend) and I used painter's take to separate my white board into these categories. Within each category were 4-6 assignments with some variety (games, technology, paper practice, partner work). I numbered the assignments in each category. Review 1, Review 2, Review 3. Magnets were used to display the assignments. If there wasn't a paper assignment, I just wrote the assignment using dry erase marker. Each category (review, apply, extend) had a small file box that held the copies for the students. It wasn't fancy or super cute, but kids LOVED it!
We took a short pre-assessment each Monday, so students could gauge their understanding of our focus content. It took some training for them to realize some needed time to review and some were ready for extending. Our goal was learning and improving. My kids who flew through assignments were now truly laboring on some deeper work. My sweet, low kids felt comfortable taking time to truly understand the work. The feel in the classroom was like one of those Google offices with a low-key hustle and bustle. I was ecstatic because I had time for my small groups!!!
Adjustments
At first kids were trying to get through ALL the work, which was nearly impossible. They were stressed!! In true hippie style, I shifted saying 'Do what you can.' Okay, I know, you could see that flaw! After another week, we settled on a minimum. Each week I would set a minimum number of assignments (12 out of 15) they would have to complete by Friday.
So how do you gather grades when kids are making choosing their own educational adventure? With my dry erase marker, I starred two or three assignments and these were mandatory. I graded those assignments. Students kept their work in a pocketed folder and handed ALL of their work in on Friday, which I looked over but did not grade it all. I only graded the assignments that I starred - and I starred the work that gave me the best insight into their understanding. We worked on a culture of genuine, authentic learning for the sake of improving. Awesome work was displayed, so quality was valued on some of the work that was not graded.
Hmmm, well, I did have a few kiddos who were just not 'into' genuine, authentic learning. That student stayed close to me. While I had my small group, I also had this cutie working next to my side. There was lots of prompting and praise, but soon they saw the value of freedom to choose and work at their own pace.
My Surprises
The biggest surprise was the natural collaboration that took place. Students helping each other, working together, teaching, small-grouping. When I focused on my small group they were working to help each other out.
As a kid, I would have LOVED having choice and being able to choose challenging assignments. One student thoughtfully approached me saying that the choice was just too stressful. What? I was shocked, but in the true spirit of differentiation, I made a schedule for her. I chose the work for her assigned days that it was due. She was happy!
As time went on, I played with my weekly Zones. During the World Series, all of our assignments had a baseball theme. One week they had to do all of the work WITH a partner. When our school ran low on paper, we had a paperless week. Some of my brainiac students asked if they could design a week of Zones. I opened up my resources and let them choose the assignments.
This system, as you could guess, would work beautifully with a higher-level gifted class. And admittedly, I started with that class first. Not long after, I rolled it out for my special ed class. And, yes! they loved it. Sometimes it is difficult to know how to best utilize a special ed co-teacher. With Zones, the teacher was able to seamlessly work with the students who needed some scaffolding.
Behavior
So many of our behavior problems come from forcing whole group instruction or a one-size-fits-all curriculum. Imagine adults sitting through a daily training for six hours where we could not talk. We would chat a bit and check our text messages and even shop on Amazon. I didn't allow shopping on Amazon, but I did allow some small talk. The small talk usually resulted in collaboration. Behavior problems virtually diminished.
Affirmation
One day my principal brought a group of principals from the district to see our Zones in action. They watched for an hour while these kids ebbed and flowed through their work. It is not the silent classroom or one where the teacher is the center of the stage. In the educational field, there are buzz words of differentiation and choice, but no one has really told teachers HOW make it work. These principals ended up sending teams of teachers to watch my classroom - seeing is believing.
