
I believe it’s important to understand students
differences in the classroom. Having the chance to
create a lesson on ability differences allowed for me
to learn and teach others about ability differences in
the classroom. I was able to learn and teaches others
about students ability differences, different
approaches to help all students learning, and
instructional opportunities that are adapted to
diverse students. This lesson is a showcase of what
know and have learned about ability differences in a
classroom. This lesson is evidence of my
understanding of ACEI standard 3b. Adaptation to
diverse students. Candidates understand how
elementary students differ in their development and
approaches to learning, and create instructional
opportunities that are adapted to diverse students.
By:
Angelique Curtis, Kristy Stas, & Danielle Talento
What do you think the myths are about student
ability and ability grouping in the class?
 Myth
1: There is such a thing as ability.
 Myth 2: Students learn better in homogenous
groups.
 Myth 3: Teaching is easier in homogenous groups.
 Myth 4: Children are cruel and cannot accept
differences.
 Myth 5: Parents support homogenous grouping
and tracking.
 Educators
use “fixed abilities” to label
children as smart, slow, gifted, or
handicapped.
 We all differ in many ways, so we shouldn’t
view a child’s (or anyone’s) ability as being
fixed.
 Armstrong(1993) and Gardner(1983) Multiple
Intelligences: ways of being smart
 Research
evidence suggests otherwise.
 Same-Ability groups creates differences in
what is learned due to exposure to different
kinds of material.
 Average- and low-ability groups benefit very
little. Not taught in enriched and high-ability
tracks.
 Negative affect on self-concept & ability to
create cross-group relationships
 Creates differences(or divides) and solidifies
existing differences.
 WHY?

Homogeneous grouping comfortable and familiar
 Lack
of time for individual needs, low
motivation, low levels of involvement from
some students.
 Heterogeneously Grouping:


Children benefit from peer instruction,
cooperative learning, become more involved
Teacher Roles Shift: Management
Instruction
 Yes!...if
there is a divide in the class then
there is no opportunity to build acceptance&
tolerance of differences, and building of
social skills.
 Social Climate = Teacher’s #1 Priority
 Children can learn to care and provide
positive support.
 Teachers: positive focus on differences,
provide learning activities encouraging
positive social skills.
NOT true for all
 Parents of children w/disabilities are challenging
separate & isolated classes & schools
 Parents of “typical” children support integration
more as their kids become comfortable w/
disabilities & differences
 Parents of “gifted” students tend to be more on
the fence

Child’s need not met w/ wkbk style class
 1 solution
special class


Others worry about stigmatizing affects of labels
 Increased
evidence of regular classrooms
providing effective inclusion of ALL students
EQUALS Increased parental support of
Heterogeneous Groups.
 Students
work together, help each other
learn
 Jigsaw Method: divide material and students
into expert groups. Learn and re-teach to
the class.
 Heterogeneous grouping used to incorporate
all students
 Students
serve as resources for one another
 ‘Work Buddy’
 Classroom Yellow Pages(activity):
Teachers rethink what is taught and how it’s
taught
 Use multiple and varied methods
 Organize different activities and projects on
varying levels(writing reports, draw and label a
picture, acquire ability to identify.
 Ask yourself:

What does each child need to know?
 What can be modified or adapted?
 Can students participate w/ varying levels of
evaluation and involvement?


Modifications made for students w/disabilities
and LD can help many students w/o
 Education
of students w/disabilities in the
general education classroom; learning along
side their same-age peers
 Consider:




What is taught
How it’s taught
Facilitation of student interaction
“Positive nature of diversity” within classroom
 Provide
direct instruction on how to praise,
support and resolve conflicts.
 Explore ways to offer, accept, and decline
help w/ students
 Have students reflect on :



3 things they do well & 3 they have trouble with
Ways to provide help
Things they need help with & types of help
they’d like
 Show
students that everyone has different
skills and everyone needs help with some
things.
What things shouldn’t teachers do when
teaching?






Don’t label students by ability such as smart, slow, or
average
Believing that ability is fixed
Grouping students homogenously by ability,
High, average, and low
Not talking about or addressing students differences
Segregating students that are different
Assuming all students engage in learning the same way
 Evaluating
 Using
each student the same
a star chart to display who is doing
well and who isn’t
 Having students compete against one another
 Awarding “best team” or voting on the best
essay
What things should teachers do when
teaching?
 Understanding that ability is made up of
many factors
 Findings ways that allows for all students to
achieve, like creating a classroom that
nurtures and supports diversity
 Heterogeneous grouping students working
together and learn to help each other
 Addressing differences and structure
learning activities that encourage interaction
among students
 Using
cooperative learning strategies
-Jigsaw divides material to be learned in
5 parts, all students responsible of
contributing
- “Learning together” heterogeneous
groups
-peer interaction
 Teaching appropriate social skills
-assigning different task to each member
 “Family Rule”
 giving student more responsibilities in the
classroom
-taking role, lunch count, decorating
bulletin board, helping make decisions










Peering tutoring within the classroom or a crossed
grade level
Students Helping One Another
Rethinking what and how they teach
Organizing a unit to fit all learning abilities
Asking questions about the students learning, “what
does each student need to know?” “What aspect of
the unit can be modified or adapted?” “Can students
participate in the same activity with different levels
of evaluation and involvement?”
Encourage students to discus how they may pick
teams so it would be fair and fun for all
Students contribute to bulletin board, students
choose what assignments they would like to display,
room arrangements are flexible
Materials in the class show differences disabilities
Monitoring language
Respecting each student
 Do:



Have students contribute to class bulletin boards
Talk about & honor children’s differences
Ask for ideas of how to include students
w/disabilities in class activities
 Don’t:


Use forms of competition…Not conducive with
creating community respectful of diversity
Allow inappropriate comments between students
 Roby,
C. (1994). When learning is tough: kids
talk about their learning disabilities. Morton
Grove, Illinois: Albert Whitman & Company.
 This
book is about a group of different types
of children who all have learning disabilities.
Each person talks about themselves so the
reader can get to know the person and if or
how their disability effects them.
 Joey-
“As far as learning disabilities go, I say
don’t give up. You just have to work hard.
Believing in myself has helped a lot.”
 Andrew-“One
of the tricks I have is to try and
stay as organized as possible. This really
helps me because I am not thumbing through
a while bunch of papers trying to find my
English paper or something. I also try to keep
my binder as empty as possible so when I’m
finished with papers, I put them in a big
crate that I have at home.”

Cameron- “I consider my learning problem a
challenge. The worst thing you can say is, “I am
disabled and worthless.” The best thing you can be is
yourself. You should never try to change that.”

Nick- “Kids should remember that there are tons of
people out there with learning disabilities. Don’t
ever, ever worry that you are different. My personal
motto is : Suffer, survive, and move on.”

Emily- “Kids should remember that there are tons of
people out there with learning disabilities. Don’t
ever, ever worry that you are different. My personal
motto is : Suffer, survive, and move on.”
-Students will be grouped by the teacher and
assigned one child from the book.
 -Each group will write a summary of the child.
 -The summary should include when the child
discovered about the disability, how he/she felt
about it, if and how his/her education and
learning process changed, what areas he/she
enjoy or are good at, what he/she want to be
when they grow up, and his/her motto.
 -The groups will then present their findings in
the class.


-We will then have a class discussion. Examples of the
question I will ask include:
“what similarities did we see in all the students?”

“Were any of the children in the book who thought
their disability affected their intelligence?”

“Does having a disability mean that the children still
could live a normal life, which includes having
interests and sill excelling in other areas of their life
like sports, music, and writing poetry?”
Students will then make a class book.
 ask the students to write a brief description of
themselves just like each child did in the book.
 Each student should include a description of any
interests they may have, something they are
good in, something they may or have struggled
with, anything that is unique about them, and
how they learn best in school.
 each students picture put it their piece of
writing.
 Put the book together to keep in the classroom
so the students can learn about their peers and
see that everyone is unique in their own way

 What
are some ways to promote cooperative
learning within the classroom?
 As a teacher what can you do to address the
different needs of all students in the class?
 Where there any myths that seemed
surprising to you?
We’ve learned that not all students can and
will learn the same things at the same time,
so the implementation of varied and multiple
teaching methods is necessary to help each
student learn. It is important to talk about
differences with the students to let them
know that not everyone is the same.