Subj: [talk-kitchen] Re: [ncte-talk] Honors Students

Date: 4/4/00 8:10:46 AM Pacific Daylight Time

From: glenn@peedeeworld.net (Glenn)

Sender: owner-talk-kitchen@ncte.org

Reply-to: talk-kitchen@serv1.ncte.org

To: ncte-talk@serv1.ncte.org

> The current criticism for not including all students in a single classroom

> is that the "low" kids will drag down the "high" kids and in some way

damage

> their education. Does anyone else smell a rat in this logic?

Nancy,

I know that this is a hot topic in education at the moment, and I don't have

anything other than my own non-scientific anecdotes to back up what I am

about to say, but I hope you'll be open-minded and hear my experience.

I teach 8th grade. At my school, we have AIG clusters & regular classes. I

teach 1 communication skills cluster class (there are about 10 AIG

identified kids and about 16 non-AIG identified kids in the class; the non

AIG kids are high-performing and were recommended by their teachers for the

cluster class); my other class is a regular class with kids whose IQs range

from 78 to above average. This setup works great for me-- I do many of the

same activities in both classes, but in the regular class I slow things down

a bit. I have tried teaching exactly the same way to both classes-- but in

my lower class the average reading level is 5.2 (with the notorious AR STAR

test), and I just CAN'T assign large chunks of reading to be done at home

(freeing up classtime for other activities related to the reading).

In my regular class we read a little in class, discuss, do some activities,

read a little more, etc. I have to guide them more than the AIG kids simply

because they have deficits in reading & experience & work ethic. I'm not

saying that I treat them like they are stupid-- I have read _A Raisin In The

Sun_, _Animal Farm_, _The Giver_, _A Christmas Carol_, _Spoon River

Anthology_ and _Johnny Tremain_ with them since Thanksgiving (when I started

working at this school). I do NOT treat them like they are less able to

handle complex material-- but I DO guide them through the material more.

However, I also teach social studies. In those classes, I have

heterogeneously grouped students. In one class I have a kid with a 152 IQ

and a college reading level AND a kid with a 70 IQ who cannot read ANY (and

I mean *literally* ANY) words at all. It is not good for either child-- the

bright kid can't be exposed to half of what I'd like to show him because the

other kid would be lost. I find myself teaching to the middle of the class,

which is, honestly, good for nobody. And I know it, but with 30 kids in

these classes-- 5-8 EC and 5-8 AIG, I'm not sure where in the world to

begin.

Case in point: we are doing the Civil War right now. We have been over the

strengths/ weaknesses of the North and South and the states that were part

of both sides, oh, probably ten times now. The lower kids can't even label

a map of the US correctly-- they put North Carolina (my home state) where

Tennessee is, South Carolina NORTH of NC, and otherwise leave everything

blank but Texas and Florida, and sometimes Maine. The lower kids OUGHT to

learn where states are in relation to each other-- I think that's a useful

bit of knowledge that they should possess. But I could spend the next three

days going over it while the AIG kids pull their hair out from frustration.

I DO believe that all kids can achieve, but in reality not everyone achieves

at the same pace at the same stage of development. Grouping kids can be a

bad thing-- I'll grant you that: elitism and stereotypes don't help anyone.

But no one's needs are met when they are all lumped together.

Teresa, having a feeling she may be very unpopular after this post

West Middle School

Montgomery County, NC