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Jennifer Guertin Position Paper Flexible Grouping

The idea of flexible grouping has always been a topic of interest for me but I was unsure of how it would work in my classroom. “Grouping is called “flexible” when students are not locked into the same groups for each area of study.” ( [|www.eht.k12.nj.us] ) This year I started doing some flexible grouping and realized how wonderful it can be when done correctly. There are many ways that flexible grouping can be done in the classroom. After reading many articles I have come across so many ways that children can be grouped in the classroom. It is so important that students work with a variety of other students in the classroom, in order to prevent boredom and many other issues. There are many ways of grouping children in the classroom. Some of those ways include: whole group, ability group, cross ability group, student selected group, topic interest group, individuals, etc. Flexible grouping is when we choose to use many ways to group the children in your class. I have tried a few of these in my classroom. I use ability grouping when I do my reading groups. I feel that by grouping them by ability, I can bring the top children higher and give the lower group more support and small group instruction. They are all at different levels and we have to reach all of them. We can determine these groups by doing a formative assessment so see where the students are and then group them accordingly. I have also used interest grouping when doing classroom projects. The student’s interests can be determined by doing a quick survey. The children all benefit from this type of grouping because they all have something in common so there is a comfort level. There are many pros of flexible grouping. Flexible grouping encourages peer support and interaction with small group work. There is a big emphasis on cooperative learning. Also, when you group children, it gives them the opportunity to socialize and engage with children in the classroom that they might not otherwise socialize with. Children are also more likely to share and give feedback when they are in a comfortable environment with their peers. “Research has shown that when groups are flexible, they are more likely to foster growth.” (scholastic.com) When you continuously group children homogenously, the low ability students do not progress as well as if they had been grouped homogenously. Children that are struggling learners need positive peer role models to look to for guidance in the classroom. The children that are high learners learn to understand that everyone is important and have something different to offer. Of course there are two sides to every story. I have come across some cons in regards to some aspects of flexible grouping. Some educators feel that when you group children heterogeneously students become aware of each other’s strengths and weaknesses and this does not help the struggling learner. The children that are high achieving will in a sense “take over” and the lower achieving students will slide by the wayside. Some also feel that homogenous grouping does benefit advanced learners because they are able to access a higher degree of the curriculum. “Advanced learners benefit from brisk paced, stimulating discourse, raised teacher expectations, and enriched materials.” (Kulik and Kulik, 1991 in Tomlinson 1999). This type of grouping does not in a sense benefit the lower achievers. They do not have role models to work with and push them to do better. If struggling learners are always paired together, they will never be pushed to succeed. Interest grouping seems to be the way to group students so that all students learn. “This method of grouping allows struggling learners to gain confidence as they contribute to the group, and advanced learners can learn that every student has something constructive to offer.” ( [|www.eht.k12.nj.us] ) This type of grouping allows all students to feel comfortable and feel like they have something to offer because they are all on the same interest level. There are students of varying degrees of academic ability. Most of the cons that I came across were in regards to homogenous grouping and heterogeneous grouping. I did not find any cons in regards to interest grouping but I feel that teachers have to be open to new ides and some of them are not. I see that as being one of the only cons of flexible grouping. It can be a lot at first, documenting assessments, assigning groups but once the children are in the routine, it can run smoothly. The idea of flexible grouping is still new to some teachers. The more we research it and read about it, the more we can learn how to implement it in our classrooms. Flexible grouping looks different in every classroom. We should be trying all these different ways to group children. Try using a different kind of group for each activity. It is challenging and engaging for the children. **// Works Cited //** __ Ability Grouping Pros and Cons: __ www.buzzle .com __ Differentiated Instruction- Flexible Grouping __ : [|www.eht.k12.nj.us] __ LEADERS- Flexible Grouping __ : [|www.education.pitt.edu]