FLEXIBLE GROUPING PROJECT - Blog Post #2

 
CRITICAL TRANSFORMATIONS

Dr. Carol Tomlinson has given much to the field of Differentiated Instruction. At an ASCD conference, in San Antonio, she shared about a critical transformation in her teaching. After I watched this video clip, I thought once again about how important it is to GET TO KNOW our learners.   Please listen to Dr. Tomlinson here before continuing this post:

VIDEO A:.




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Critical Transformations?  When each teacher gets to know his/her students more and adaptations are made to meet student needs, FLEXIBLE GROUPING will be part of that picture.   

Do we know each student well enough to answer the question:

• "WHY does each student do things a certain way?"

We do want to make a positive difference in your future life as a teacher.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

A few semesters ago, I got this note from a student about 2 weeks after the semester was over:

"I hope you were able to relax a little

over your winter break.

I have included a movie that

my father sent me about

making a difference as a teacher.

The short movie reminded me of

the inspirational movies and clips

that you showed us this past semester.

You have definitely made a difference in

the way I will teach

when I have my own classroom.

I hope you enjoy!"

A.G.

VIDEO B:
Make a Difference Movie link:

http://www.makeadifferencemovie.com/FullMovie/

All of life is full of trying to understand the meanings of human interaction, situations, and circumstances. There's a whole lot to learn in each new day.


For several years, I have used my own Global Positioning System to get to know my students/learners.  This is what I used.

G = Genogram 

P = Personality

S = Strengths

G - stands for Genogram!  Many teachers use the idea of a family tree, geneology, geno-gram, family stories, and/or drawings to get to know their students in the first week or so of the school year or semester.   A genogram is a visual way to denote gender, birth order, family relationships and heritage.
P -  stands for Personality!  You will need to click here to take a short personality inventory. You will learn the words/letters that stand for your personality. Once you click on this link, it will give a brief description of what you will be doing. Then, you will click DO IT! That takes you to the personality inventory. Once you have finished, we will use this information to discuss human relationships. 

S- stands for Strengths!  Be a talent scout!  There are more strengths in any one person than can be observed by the human eye.  Ask questions!  Celebrate the strengths of your students!


A year or so ago, a professor came to me and suggested we expand on that idea. It eventually culminated in what we now call GPS - SWIPE.
Just like the iPhone brought us the "swipe" of the screen, I can now bring you a GPS with the SWIPE technology to help you value the uniqueness of each individual student via his/her:

• S -trengths
• W -eaknesses
• I -nterests
• P -references
• E -xperiences 

This will help you to get a good perspective of challenges and needs.  Notice the "S" is in GPS and in SWIPE.  Let it remind you to double focus on each student's STRENGTHS!

When you are observing students, previewing work samples, asking questions, giving or taking inventories, or working with students, be sure that you use the GPS-SWIPE:

 G enogram: Do you know enough about the student's family that you can help him/her make meaningful connections to the content being learned?

 P ersonality:  Do you know enough about how different personalities interact and think, to know what might work best for different students?  Introverted or extroverted?  Thinkers or feelers?

 S trengths:  What is this student good or gifted at? (in and out of class)

 S trengths:  Surely you can come up with more strengths!  List additional strengths here:  social... emotional... non-academic...

W eaknesses:  What are the challenges this student has that get in the way of learning / success in school? (in and out of class)

 I nterests:  What are this student's interests, hobbies, or passions?

 P references:  In what ways does this student prefer to learn/study? Alone?Partner?  Small Group? Research? Create? Drawings? Music? Noise? Total Silence?  Charts? Graphs? Etc.? 

 E xperiences:   What are some things this student has experienced in his/her life that has shaped and formed who he/she is or given them a unique world view?

Enjoy getting started using your new Global Positioning System. 

It could eventually change how you group your students!

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