Student A is studying about relative pronouns, while Student B is practicing the pronunciation of the /th/ sound and Student C is struggling to decode a list of monosyllabic rhyming words. Teacher is divided between Students A, B, C, D, E, etc. in an attempt to give each and every individual in that room something new to take home in their brain. Welcome to my ABE classroom. I teach ABE and ESOL for men and women of various ages, personal backgrounds, native languages and cultures. Believe me, I treasure the differences and look forward to the variety of experiences that each day offers on the job. But as richly diverse as my students are, none of the differences I face have challenged me as much as the wide range of ability levels. Each day I run the risk of boring some while overwhelming others. Other teachers with whom I've spoken relate similar stories.
What's a teacher to do in such a situation? Reach for the candy jar on the desk when stress takes over? Go home and cry? Find a different job? I'm convinced that any configuration of students, no matter how varied in ability levels and goals, can create a dynamic, productive learning environment with the help of a prepared and committed teacher. Following are a few suggestions for taking Students A through Z and concocting a delightful alphabet soup.
Bring the right attitude along with you. Underlying any repertoire of teaching techniques must be the proper collection of attitudes on the teacher's part. Be optimistic; don't view your teaching situation as an impossible one. Be patient, with yourself and with your students. Realize that not every day will be a banner day with all of your goals being met. Finally, have a sense of humor, which will lighten the burden of perfectionism that we, as teachers, often place on ourselves. Humor also fosters a comfortable, pleasant learning environment for the students.
Organize students into different groups for different tasks. Resist the temptation to categorize students as low, medium, high, "lost cause," etc., and make static, rigid groupings. If you're at all familiar with Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences, and if you have your eyes wide open in the classroom, you realize that Student H may be knowledgeable and articulate when it comes to math, but fearful of reading and writing tasks. Student J may be the other way around. There are artistic strengths, body-smarts, street-smarts, and many others. Your students are individuals with different strengths and needs, so group them accordingly.
For instance, if you know Student H is confident and relatively self-sufficient with helping verbs exercises, schedule him to work on his own or possibly help another student who is struggling. Then you can gather together any ESOL learners you have and work with them on an English grammar or pronunciation concept. If you're blessed to have a volunteer helping out in your classroom that day, this person could monitor another group. On another day, you might split your ESOL students to work with ABE students who are at similar points in the math curriculum. It takes some careful scheduling and forethought, but you'll find that once you get into a rhythm with this type of routine, it does feel easier and more natural.
Do at least one activity per day as a class. Working with my Basic Literacy group (0-3.9 grade level), I certainly know the meaning of "heterogeneous classroom." There are those with learning disabilities, those with native language differences, and those who are more advanced than the others in many areas. I have been honing my grouping strategies to help all of my students reap the maximum benefit from their time spent in school. But as valuable as this approach is, it doesn't go far toward building classroom unity. That's why I always arrange for something we can do together. It allows us a time to unite, share ideas, and share our experiences with one another.
One valuable vehicle for such a lesson is poetry. It sounds complex and advanced, but it's not. It's fun, and it allows your students to think "outside of the box" for a little while. If you find books, web sites and other resources geared toward teaching poetry to children, you will find some activities that are quite adaptable to working with an adult population. Poetry is one area where I find even my most reluctant readers and writers excelling. It taps creativity in a way that many language arts tasks and texts don't, and students can surprise themselves with their success in this area. For example, I have a learning disabled student who has a marvelous grasp of poetic techniques, and she has gained a great deal of confidence in herself from realizing that she has something valuable to contribute to the class.
You can also read a fiction or high-interest-topic non-fiction selection, discuss it, do pre-reading and post-reading activities of your choosing, and keep things on the discussion/critical thinking levels. In this manner you are still teaching valuable skills according to the Curriculum Frameworks, but students with writing anxiety need not get stressed out, because any writing is done on the board by you. Exercises such as this effectively build class unity at any ability level.
Give all students the attention they require. Some students require more guidance and support than others. I used to feel that I had to spend an equal amount of time individually instructing and touching base with each student each day, in order to be fair. This is an unnecessary guilt trip and a trap. Instead, think of each student and what they need in order to get their learning accomplished for that day. One day Student X needs someone to sit with her for a half-hour to go over long division, which is a pretty major concept for someone who's never seen it before. The next day she is comfortably working and practicing on her own, with occasional teacher check-ins, which frees you up to circulate among several of the other students. Some students have learning styles which prohibit teacher hovering; they prefer to read about something, experiment with it and figure it out. They will "let you know" when they need something. This is fine, too. Different needs, different students, different days. Did anyone ever say that "teaching is like a box of chocolates"? Well, someone should. You wouldn't be in this profession if you didn't enjoy flying by the seat of your pants at times, right?
So, what am I really saying to you here? That there's a magic solution to this timeless issue of managing the heterogeneous classroom? If there is, I don't have it. Education at every level, from children to adults, is affected by this issue of ability variance. It certainly doesn't help to throw your hands up and say, "Why is this or that student in my class? It can't be done, I tell you!" Rather, see these challenges as opportunities to make something great happen. Getting constructive and looking for solutions is definitely the way to go.
Wendy Mongeau is an adult educator with the New Bedford Public Schools.