Conversations Show 20

Post-Show description: 

Conversations #20

December 21, 2008

The show this week was a conversation about classroom groupings. Lisa and Maria were joined by Joel Zehring to discuss advantages and disadvantages, pros and cons of heterogeneous and homogeneous groups.

 

Chat Log

11:35:07 Lisa Parisi: Hello Joel..starting a stream now
11:35:18 Lisa Parisi: Hello Sheila
11:35:25 Lisa Parisi: Hello Nancy
11:35:28 sheila: HI all!
11:35:34 Lisa Parisi: Should be streaming
11:35:43 nancykeane: Hi everyone! Is there sound?
11:35:46 Lisa Parisi: Streaming now
11:35:55 Lisa Parisi: ETT A
11:36:38 Lisa Parisi:  Who wants to join the skype chat?
11:36:45 joelzehring: I've got audio now
11:36:56 nancykeane: Got sound now.
11:37:59 sheila: brb
11:38:49 Lisa Parisi: Hi Colleen!
11:39:08 colleenk: Hi Lisa!
11:42:13 joelzehring: My grouping question: what qualifies a kid to land in a "high" group or "low" group?
11:42:18 joelzehring: I know, I know
11:42:21 nancykeane: Maria -- blame it on the days of no power!
11:42:24 Lisa Parisi: Come join us Joel
11:42:34 colleenk: Too funny!
11:42:48 Maureen: Whatever... been stuck here since Thursday...snowed in- anything works today
11:42:49 joelzehring: I can try as long as the kid stays asleep.
11:43:14 Lisa Parisi: Ok..turn on skype
11:46:03 Maureen: I get the kids in 1-3 for science by reading group- the other half stays with teacher for reading. It is sometimes good- but for many things in science- I would rather have more homogenous grps.
11:47:12 Maureen: @maria My groups change a lot because they move about in reading esp gr 1 and 2. This wreaks havoc with my stuff because I try to have them work in groups in science
11:47:30 MariaK: I can't imagine having static groups all year.
11:48:11 MariaK: I wouldn't want to be "stuck" with the same people all year. Things should be mixed up a bit!
11:49:45 sheila: Sorry! Phone calls from family. Need to go! Will catch this later! Always enjoy your show! :)
11:50:18 Maureen: We have problems in upper grades, esp in math, being a small school. We have 2 sections- some kids, due to scheduling, are really not being served well within their section- they are higher/lower ability than the section they got stuck in. This affects whatever subject is opposite- i.e. if you are in high grp for math you may also be in high grp for Latin- not always the case.
11:51:26 joelzehring: @Maureen It's hard to get to everyone
11:54:58 Maureen: Can we/do we use tech to overcome some of the skill issues within the groups? i.e. if I have a 1st grader who does not read/write well- I have them draw for me whatever happened.
11:55:23 Lisa Parisi: Hello Miguel..great blog today
11:55:26 MGuhlin.org: Hi folks!
11:55:41 colleenk: Hi Miguel
11:55:47 MGuhlin.org: Thanks, Lisa.
11:56:28 MGuhlin.org: It's great to be off work and able to participate. Great subject. I had this discussion with a principal the other day.
11:56:38 Lisa Parisi: Want to join the skype chat?
11:56:56 MGuhlin.org: I'm on a non-skype machine at the moment. Will text only work?
11:57:03 MGuhlin.org: I'm listening to you, though, too.
11:57:15 Lisa Parisi: Just add ideas to the chat and we'll bring them in.
11:57:18 MGuhlin.org: ok
11:59:00 MGuhlin.org: Do you use rubrics to externalize expectations for groups?
11:59:14 Lisa Parisi: Always...
11:59:25 Maureen: @Miguel I use them for grades 6-9, not for gr 1-3
11:59:26 Lisa Parisi: And we have them work with their rubrics next to them
11:59:43 joelzehring: Does one rubric work for all groups?
11:59:45 MGuhlin.org: How do you distinguish between group work and collaborative work among grades 6-9? Are the rubrics online?
12:00:17 MGuhlin.org: These questions are the ones I had to respond to and would love to provide more detail on. 8->
12:00:58 Maureen: I have them work collaboratively and have a separate rubric for the project and for the collaboration. I did have them online for the kids- may still be able to find them
12:00:59 MGuhlin.org: Is the speaker cataloguing strengths in the class? How?
12:01:07 Maureen: yes
12:01:39 MGuhlin.org: Maureen, are these rubrics online for sharing?
12:02:10 Maureen: sorry family phone call
12:05:23 MGuhlin.org: individuals working alone but grouped together rather than truly teaming. It's a concern for a principal. You're addressing it with grading aspect.
12:07:31 Lisa Parisi: Hello Derrall
12:07:34 MariaK: good morning derrall
12:07:35 MGuhlin.org: Yes, thanks for discussing that.
12:07:38 MGuhlin.org: Hi Derrall!
12:07:42 derrallg: Hi Lisa
12:07:53 derrallg: Hi Maria and Miguel
12:08:38 MGuhlin.org: I'm guessing it's professional development--teachers don't know how to facilitate collaboration vs just grouping.
12:09:10 MGuhlin.org: What resources are available--perhaps your own work--that can be used to model appropriate collaboration with teachers?
12:09:57 Lisa Parisi: Ahh
12:11:08 derrallg: Isn't this the hard part for ability grouping especially for math, how to place the students appropriately and the time it takes for assessment?
12:11:22 Maureen: Sorry, back...
12:11:25 MGuhlin.org: Joel, definitely...esp with children at high school who are focused on competing.
12:11:59 MGuhlin.org: what about children on individualized education plans who are performing at 70% of everyone else?
12:15:45 Maureen: I have questions about older kids- where the kids are going to different teachers. It's much more difficult to grp kids appropriately when subjects are opposite one another- not just several sections of the same subject.
12:16:05 derrallg: But this student maybe shows how the concepts don't always match up with the student's ability to apply them and if you test students for placement it seems like it's difficult to allow for that
12:19:33 MGuhlin.org: argh. gotta go and will catch up with you later.
12:19:50 derrallg: bye Miguel have a good day
12:19:51 MariaK: thanks for joining us today Miguel
12:20:05 MGuhlin.org: thx for letting me participate and will listen to audio later.
12:20:08 Lisa Parisi: bye Miguel
12:20:52 colleenk: @LParisi You are so awesome - such passion!
12:25:07 kapil: hi, kapil from india..just joined the conversation , missed some great discussions
12:25:23 Lisa Parisi: Hello Kapil...welcome
12:25:30 Lisa Parisi: What time is it for you?
12:25:35 kapil: 11 pm
12:26:03 MariaK: hi gary
12:26:10 Gary: Hello
12:33:42 derrallg: Our ELD students are put in a self-contained class, not mainstreamed until they meet minimum requirements
12:34:50 joelzehring: @derrallg AZ seems to be headed that way. What's your opinion on that model?
12:35:34 derrallg: I taught an ELD class for 5 years and it worked well as long as the students are motivated otherwise they never pass out to the regular class
12:36:32 derrallg: the hard part is that I had 5 different reading groups and had to prep for two grade levels for math
12:37:48 joelzehring: Sansa Clip 1 Gb MP3 player
12:37:58 MariaK: thanx
12:39:23 sroseman: I would like more details about the audio in word
12:39:53 kapil: Sansa is brand name of SanDisk  http://reviews.cnet.com/mp3-players/sandisk-sansa-clip-1gb/4505-6490_7-3... great reviews
12:40:00 Lisa Parisi: http://ettconversations.blogspot.com/
12:40:44 MariaK: http://teachingeverystudent.blogspot.com/
12:40:44 Lisa Parisi: Thank you all for coming.
12:41:20 derrallg: good show as usual :)
12:41:42 kapil: congrats everybody for part of edublog community
12:41:59 sroseman: congratulations