Inquiry Question:
How can I manage my classroom interactions so that I maintain a fair amount of contact with students each day?
I then had students assess me at the end of my time with them. I picked a fifth grade class and had them fill out a worksheet that had to do with the term fair. I gave the the dictionary definitions of fair and then the definition I came up with and asked whether or not according to the definitions I was fair or not. I also had the students grade me as their teacher and asked for advice on how to become a better teacher.
Each control group ended up having very similar results. Looking back at my charts I noticed I spent extra time with about half the class per class while periodically checking in with the rest of the students. My data revealed that both sets of students (students with extra attention and students with periodic check ins) met the day’s goals with flying colors. Only when it came to glazing the fifth grade project did students require a little bit of extra time.
After the control groups had finished their projects I took my took my data and compared whether or not students that had extra attention had stronger work than those who didn’t receive extra attention. After looking at each piece of work, the number of times I reached a student, and whether or not the student could be considered advanced, average, or below average I concluded that no one piece was stronger than another for the amount of time I spent with each student. The way I worked around the room and interacted ended up being fair for each student and all students were successful in their project. Students at the end of the class would be questioned on what they learned in that class as a way of dismissal. Most students could answer the questions quickly and for those that didn’t understand earlier were given the opportunity to listen to their classmate answer the question and refresh their memories. Deep down students do understand the concept that fair isn’t equal and I never encountered a fight from my students when I taught one way to one student and another way to another student. We teach kids this concept of fairness and equality in many different ways. For example, when you have a pair of siblings the older sibling is given more responsibility and while we don’t outrightly say, “It wouldn’t be fair to have your little brother/sister do this task.” We understand that they are too little to do the task at hand and it wouldn’t be fair to have a younger child do something that the older child can do. |
Another example older students understand (and that came into play in my fifth grade target group) was disabilities. While I saw many students with varying disabilities (physical, mental, emotional, developmental) there was one student who was in a wheelchair. Everyone had learned (prior to my presence in the school) how to interact and include this student. Whenever a demo was happening students would part and allow this fifth grader to be right up front. Never once was there a “It isn’t fair. How come she gets to be up front?!” reaction from any students but they would fight among each other to get up front to see better. All these fifth graders know that this student needed to be treated a little differently. Whether it was being up front during a demo, helping her move from the sink to the paper towels if her hands were covered in paint, or helping her reach for something that any other student could reach. Not only did I differentiate for her needs but the students did as well.
Fairness and equality go hand in hand with differentiation which was another conclusion I came to. We as teachers need to differentiate to allow students their best chance to grow and learn. To reiterate an earlier statement students learn differently, at different paces, and through different learning styles. To ignore those differences and to treat everyone exactly the same would cause more harm than good. Fairness, equality, and differentiation I conclude is something that isn’t easy to do sometimes but your kids will always share with you their thoughts and feelings on the matter. Fair isn’t always equal and students do realize this more than we might initially think. My control groups proved this and more. This research has had some surprising revelations for me, in which I was teaching in a way that was so instinctual that I wasn’t even aware that I was doing fairness, equality, and differentiation. In my future classes these findings and teaching methods will only improve my way of teaching. |