Every class has a heterogeneous group of students. You always have 68% Average students and 16% Above Average and 16% Below Average. This is best represented by a Normal Probability Curve. One of the biggest challenges of a teacher is to reach out to all students in the class. This is possible only by organising Teaching Activities at various levels of the continuum. We have to have some activities compulsory for all and then either offer a choice of activities to the children or else make a particular activity mandatory for a child.
A gifted child is very precious and needs to be handled properly. We need to ascertain that the child is really gifted and then find out his special abilities and interests. Gifted students have particular behaviour characteristics and we have to keep their interest levels high by challenging them with Enrichment and Accelerated programmes. They need challenges and they are quicker at the uptake. Hence while the teacher is teaching the average, the gifted child is bound to feel uncomfortable. Since, in the situation you are teaching; we do not find many such gifted in a single class; there is no possibility of grouping them. But we can group students who are gifted from each class and assign them tasks, projects and assignments as per their abilities. The school needs to be innovative and provide these students opportunities of working with their classmates for major time of the School Day and then for a specific period with the Group of Gifted students. This will need teachers who understand the gifted students and have knowledge of teaching techniques for the gifted. Some schools have separate sections of the same class for the Gifted. Some call these Sections as the Ability Sections. Some have Co-teachers assigned the responsibility of catering to the academic needs of the Below Average and devising strategies for the gifted. Fortunately, I have had an opportunity of observing these practices in several schools over a period of time. I would not like to undermine their contribution but, in all honesty, I must admit that these have been mere gimmicks and have done more harm than good. We have acute shortage of efficient teachers who can teach the gifted students.
Under the circumstances, I suggest:
• Identification of the Gifted is done objectively after Psychological Testing.
• A programme for catering to the Gifted is made at the very beginning of the Session.
• Teacher assigned with the responsibility of handling such a child is made aware of the Characteristics of a Gifted Child and Trained/Mentored in Teaching Strategies that need to be adopted for teaching the gifted.
• No change is required to be made in either the School Timings or Period Wise Timings.
• In fact, some Programmes of Teaching the Gifted would surely benefit other students also and enable them to enhance their Academic Achievements.
I would conclude by saying that ultimately the whole exercise will be determined by the Giftedness of the Child, the Extent and the Potentialities of his being Gifted, the environment in which he is being educated and brought up, the facilities existing in the School and the availability of competent and committed teachers to handle such a child.
A personal request to you if you are facing the problem: “Please consider each child in your Class gifted. Treat and teach them as if they all were Geniuses. I assure you, they will not disappoint you”. I have Research based Evidence of Psychological Experiments to make this request to you.
Cheer up!
Sunday, November 30, 2008
How can we nourish creative potential in children?
Education has to develop creative potentialities of children and this requires proper understanding of Creativity, choosing the right kind of Curriculum and transacting the same in ways as foster creative thinking and creative ability.
We have various approaches and a lot of information: both Pedagogical and Research based available. Montessori Approach of Sensory Training is best suited at the lower levels. Frobel’s Gifts and Didactic Apparatus can also be used at this stage. It is necessary that teachers adopt a Multi-Sensory Approach. We need to know the Preferred Learning Style and the Brain Hemispheric preference of a child. We have to find the Super Link that will help us to present information and have it processed in the Child's Brain through the fastest pathways. Use of Colour, Music, Movement, Brain Gym and Donkey Bridging are all important.
As the child grows, we have to provide a variety of experiences; in order to allow his latent talents to be explored and then nourished. At this stage I would recommend the Gardener’s Multiple Intelligence Approach and even the SMARTS. The child will need to explore the world. The wider the experiences provided, the easier it will be for the teacher to identify the child's interest and talent. By the age of 16 the child reaches his Highest IQ and research studies reveal that Creativity keeps on growing. Hence there is an imperative need to include Thinking Skills; especially of the Higher Order. I mean activities that help the child to Analyse, Evaluate and Create. This requires Activities that challenge him to do so. He has to be a Discoverer, an Inquirer, a Judge, a Producer and capable of De-structuring Knowledge to understand relationships of the parts with one another and with the whole.
We all know that Creativity involves: Originality, Spontaneity, Fluency and Elaboration. It requires Divergent Thinking, Inductive and deductive Reasoning. Our Educational programme, therefore, needs to be flexible, Activity Based, Child- centred. We have to make provision for Hands on Learning, Demonstrations, Experimentation, Practical Work, Surveys, Projects, Assignments and these have to be such as provide a challenge to his particular creative ability. We have to follow an Integrated Approach; wherein the Bloom Taxonomy, Gardener’s Multiple Intelligence, SMARTS, Tony Ryan’s Thinkers Keys, SCAMPER Strategy and De Bono’s Lateral Thinking are all integrated into Educational Planning and Practices. We have to prepare a Grid- Matrix of Activities and engage the child in Activities that require Thinking, Thinking Out of the Box, being Original and going beyond the limits of what is known.
Please remember that Traditional School practices are routine, monotonous and hinder creativity. We have to find alternative strategies that are flexible and cater to an individual child. I have faith that this is possible.
We have various approaches and a lot of information: both Pedagogical and Research based available. Montessori Approach of Sensory Training is best suited at the lower levels. Frobel’s Gifts and Didactic Apparatus can also be used at this stage. It is necessary that teachers adopt a Multi-Sensory Approach. We need to know the Preferred Learning Style and the Brain Hemispheric preference of a child. We have to find the Super Link that will help us to present information and have it processed in the Child's Brain through the fastest pathways. Use of Colour, Music, Movement, Brain Gym and Donkey Bridging are all important.
As the child grows, we have to provide a variety of experiences; in order to allow his latent talents to be explored and then nourished. At this stage I would recommend the Gardener’s Multiple Intelligence Approach and even the SMARTS. The child will need to explore the world. The wider the experiences provided, the easier it will be for the teacher to identify the child's interest and talent. By the age of 16 the child reaches his Highest IQ and research studies reveal that Creativity keeps on growing. Hence there is an imperative need to include Thinking Skills; especially of the Higher Order. I mean activities that help the child to Analyse, Evaluate and Create. This requires Activities that challenge him to do so. He has to be a Discoverer, an Inquirer, a Judge, a Producer and capable of De-structuring Knowledge to understand relationships of the parts with one another and with the whole.
We all know that Creativity involves: Originality, Spontaneity, Fluency and Elaboration. It requires Divergent Thinking, Inductive and deductive Reasoning. Our Educational programme, therefore, needs to be flexible, Activity Based, Child- centred. We have to make provision for Hands on Learning, Demonstrations, Experimentation, Practical Work, Surveys, Projects, Assignments and these have to be such as provide a challenge to his particular creative ability. We have to follow an Integrated Approach; wherein the Bloom Taxonomy, Gardener’s Multiple Intelligence, SMARTS, Tony Ryan’s Thinkers Keys, SCAMPER Strategy and De Bono’s Lateral Thinking are all integrated into Educational Planning and Practices. We have to prepare a Grid- Matrix of Activities and engage the child in Activities that require Thinking, Thinking Out of the Box, being Original and going beyond the limits of what is known.
Please remember that Traditional School practices are routine, monotonous and hinder creativity. We have to find alternative strategies that are flexible and cater to an individual child. I have faith that this is possible.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
TEACHERS NEED RECOGNITION.
Recognition is what I care for most. Who doesn't?
I look for recognition in the enthusiasm of my trainees. Their non-verbal language speaks a lot; their feedback is my recognition, if that has a few words of appreciation.
Recognition comes to me when my colleagues appreciate the work done, when the press reports about it, when friends call up to congratulate and finally when I am financially benefitted for all my endeavors.
The smiling faces of my students and teachers, the admiration of colleagues and the appreciation of the management; these all are important to me but more important to me than all this is when my wife asks me 'How did it all go?' and if with confidence and with my head raised, I reply that it all went as planned and I am happy. This self-recognition is the highest form of recognition to me.
After so many years of research and work with teachers I have realized that teachers are really unique and we should treat them in a unique way.
Encouragement, motivation, awards, recognition... these are all part of what teachers need to see throughout their career.
As we all know most teachers are in the profession NOT because of the salary but because they love teaching. So if we can't give them a $100,000 annual salary, why not encourage them and bring them into the social spotlight where society at large can also learn about them. That way we can "turn the table" and the image of the teaching profession will change for the better. Then being a teacher will mean more than just going to work and dealing with crying kids. It will be what it used to be - the great art of teaching and shaping kids' future.
I don't think we are giving teachers the necessary credit they deserve.
Let us start recognizing our teachers for their being teachers, for the work they do and for a thousand other good things they do.
I look for recognition in the enthusiasm of my trainees. Their non-verbal language speaks a lot; their feedback is my recognition, if that has a few words of appreciation.
Recognition comes to me when my colleagues appreciate the work done, when the press reports about it, when friends call up to congratulate and finally when I am financially benefitted for all my endeavors.
The smiling faces of my students and teachers, the admiration of colleagues and the appreciation of the management; these all are important to me but more important to me than all this is when my wife asks me 'How did it all go?' and if with confidence and with my head raised, I reply that it all went as planned and I am happy. This self-recognition is the highest form of recognition to me.
After so many years of research and work with teachers I have realized that teachers are really unique and we should treat them in a unique way.
Encouragement, motivation, awards, recognition... these are all part of what teachers need to see throughout their career.
As we all know most teachers are in the profession NOT because of the salary but because they love teaching. So if we can't give them a $100,000 annual salary, why not encourage them and bring them into the social spotlight where society at large can also learn about them. That way we can "turn the table" and the image of the teaching profession will change for the better. Then being a teacher will mean more than just going to work and dealing with crying kids. It will be what it used to be - the great art of teaching and shaping kids' future.
I don't think we are giving teachers the necessary credit they deserve.
Let us start recognizing our teachers for their being teachers, for the work they do and for a thousand other good things they do.
TEACHING CLASSES OF STUDENTS WITH DIFFERENT ABILITIES.
Teachers and I mean all teachers have to face this problem. My teachers faced it, I faced and now I mentor teachers as to how to deal with it.
We never have a homogenous class, it is always heterogeneous. Believe me, teaching a class where there are children with the same knowledge, same skills and same learning abilities (though an impossible situation unless we have a group matched on various variables after detailed psychological testing and Factorial Analysis) would not be a challenge to a good teacher. It would be routine and monotony.
Find as to what are the Learning Styles of your students, check their Entering Behaviour and where you find that it does not suit the minimum expectations at Entry level, organise a Bridge Course and improve upon their Entering Behaviour. If majority of students show poor learning abilities then change your objectives, your expectations and choose Curricular Areas that will help in improving upon their Entering Behaviour.
Most important is your Instructional Procedures or Strategies.
Adopt a Multisensory Approach; choose from a range of Activities on a topic, those that are obligatory and those that are optional. Give students the freedom to choose projects and activities from a Grid that allows them the freedom of choice at two levels; Taxonomical and Multiple Intelligence. You will in the process find that while all children perform activities at Lower Levels of Remembering, Understanding and Application; only a few will choose activities on Analysis, Evaluation and Creating. Similarly different children will choose activities as per their Intelligence.
You have to teach keeping the average 68% in view most of the time and the remaining 32% who are evenly distributed at the two ends of the continuum: 16% Above average need to be challenged with activities, projects and assignments as a programme of Enrichment and Acceleration and the other16%-Below average need immediate Remediation but after Diagnostic Evaluation and they need your time, attention, patience, reinforcement and care. This is the challenge to a teacher.
Please follow practices that have been tested and found useful; like peer work, group work, Use of colour and Music, Movement Breaks, enough opportunities for Review and Practice.
You have to individualise your teaching in a classroom setting. This is not difficult at all provided you have all the background information about each child and you can transact curriculum at various levels.
Cheer up. We all did it. I am sure you can do it better than us.
.
We never have a homogenous class, it is always heterogeneous. Believe me, teaching a class where there are children with the same knowledge, same skills and same learning abilities (though an impossible situation unless we have a group matched on various variables after detailed psychological testing and Factorial Analysis) would not be a challenge to a good teacher. It would be routine and monotony.
Find as to what are the Learning Styles of your students, check their Entering Behaviour and where you find that it does not suit the minimum expectations at Entry level, organise a Bridge Course and improve upon their Entering Behaviour. If majority of students show poor learning abilities then change your objectives, your expectations and choose Curricular Areas that will help in improving upon their Entering Behaviour.
Most important is your Instructional Procedures or Strategies.
Adopt a Multisensory Approach; choose from a range of Activities on a topic, those that are obligatory and those that are optional. Give students the freedom to choose projects and activities from a Grid that allows them the freedom of choice at two levels; Taxonomical and Multiple Intelligence. You will in the process find that while all children perform activities at Lower Levels of Remembering, Understanding and Application; only a few will choose activities on Analysis, Evaluation and Creating. Similarly different children will choose activities as per their Intelligence.
You have to teach keeping the average 68% in view most of the time and the remaining 32% who are evenly distributed at the two ends of the continuum: 16% Above average need to be challenged with activities, projects and assignments as a programme of Enrichment and Acceleration and the other16%-Below average need immediate Remediation but after Diagnostic Evaluation and they need your time, attention, patience, reinforcement and care. This is the challenge to a teacher.
Please follow practices that have been tested and found useful; like peer work, group work, Use of colour and Music, Movement Breaks, enough opportunities for Review and Practice.
You have to individualise your teaching in a classroom setting. This is not difficult at all provided you have all the background information about each child and you can transact curriculum at various levels.
Cheer up. We all did it. I am sure you can do it better than us.
.
Monday, October 27, 2008
HOW LONG SHOULD WE CONTINUE ADDING TECHNOLOGY TO THE TEACHING LEARNING PROCESS?
The answer in brief is "NO LONGER- A LOT OF DAMAGE HAS ALREADY BEEN DONE."
Let us pause for a while and understand the fundamental process of Teaching-Learning. Once this understanding has been acquired, add what you like but with an objective and that has to be only “to improve the process."
Teaching is an objective-oriented activity. It has a well defined purpose. It is meant to induce learning. It is a social activity. You need two people at least.
Learning is a relatively permanent change in behaviour. It is an individual activity and needs both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. We all have our preferred Styles of learning. Our Brain Hemispheric functioning also affects the way we learn. Review and practice enhance learning.
One needs to have a holistic view of the Behaviouristic School of thought and the Cognitive School as also of those who talk of learning as Need-Reduction, Problem-Solving and what not.
What is essential to us is that there are a lot of variables that intervene in the process of Teaching-Learning and while we are able to control a few, there are many that are beyond our control.
We have been constantly endeavouring to bring in efficiency, speed, change in this process and every decade has witnessed the growth of new strategies: Nature as Teacher, Play-way, Project Technique, Child centric methods, Tutorial system, Heuristic approach, Socratic Dialogue, Inquiry based teaching, Developing Schemas and Strategies, catering to the Zone of proximal development etc.
We did speak of and use Technology in Education. We developed a Technology of Education and a Technology in Education.
I am of the view that an approach where the Laws of Learning, the Researches of Behavioural Sciences and the Knowledge of HOW learning takes place in the Brain is concerned; we should use it to our best possible advantage in the Teaching Learning Process.
Then, we need to look for introduction of the Hardware and Software of Technology that can facilitate the Process and make it more effective, enhance learning, individualise instruction, give each learner the space and freedom to learn at his pace, assess learning in objective terms for Remediation and for providing reinforcement.
In fact, the use of Technology as a substitute for Teaching needs experimentation and research based evidence. I have found a display of Technology and the concerned did not have a perfect understanding of its use, its scope and its effects on the Teaching learning Process. When asked why they were doing this or that, the answer was because everybody else was doing it or it gave them a standing in the community or else it added to the marketability of Educational Institutions. Nobody was convinced that it aided learning, improved upon the quality of learning, increased accessibility or made the process more interesting and gain speed. May be I have interacted with teachers in Schools that had their compulsions to use (misuse) Technology in this way.
We have to define the levels, the structures and the types of learning; before we continue with any further addition. Whatever has been added has to prove its worth and has to be used properly before we add any more.
Thanks.
Let us pause for a while and understand the fundamental process of Teaching-Learning. Once this understanding has been acquired, add what you like but with an objective and that has to be only “to improve the process."
Teaching is an objective-oriented activity. It has a well defined purpose. It is meant to induce learning. It is a social activity. You need two people at least.
Learning is a relatively permanent change in behaviour. It is an individual activity and needs both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. We all have our preferred Styles of learning. Our Brain Hemispheric functioning also affects the way we learn. Review and practice enhance learning.
One needs to have a holistic view of the Behaviouristic School of thought and the Cognitive School as also of those who talk of learning as Need-Reduction, Problem-Solving and what not.
What is essential to us is that there are a lot of variables that intervene in the process of Teaching-Learning and while we are able to control a few, there are many that are beyond our control.
We have been constantly endeavouring to bring in efficiency, speed, change in this process and every decade has witnessed the growth of new strategies: Nature as Teacher, Play-way, Project Technique, Child centric methods, Tutorial system, Heuristic approach, Socratic Dialogue, Inquiry based teaching, Developing Schemas and Strategies, catering to the Zone of proximal development etc.
We did speak of and use Technology in Education. We developed a Technology of Education and a Technology in Education.
I am of the view that an approach where the Laws of Learning, the Researches of Behavioural Sciences and the Knowledge of HOW learning takes place in the Brain is concerned; we should use it to our best possible advantage in the Teaching Learning Process.
Then, we need to look for introduction of the Hardware and Software of Technology that can facilitate the Process and make it more effective, enhance learning, individualise instruction, give each learner the space and freedom to learn at his pace, assess learning in objective terms for Remediation and for providing reinforcement.
In fact, the use of Technology as a substitute for Teaching needs experimentation and research based evidence. I have found a display of Technology and the concerned did not have a perfect understanding of its use, its scope and its effects on the Teaching learning Process. When asked why they were doing this or that, the answer was because everybody else was doing it or it gave them a standing in the community or else it added to the marketability of Educational Institutions. Nobody was convinced that it aided learning, improved upon the quality of learning, increased accessibility or made the process more interesting and gain speed. May be I have interacted with teachers in Schools that had their compulsions to use (misuse) Technology in this way.
We have to define the levels, the structures and the types of learning; before we continue with any further addition. Whatever has been added has to prove its worth and has to be used properly before we add any more.
Thanks.
HOW TO REDUCE STRESS?
We all experience stress in one form or another. Children and teachers feel stressed. The degree and level of stress varies from individual to individual. Stress is harmful and affects both performance and health.
I have found that daily Meditation helps reduce stress considerably. One only needs to be guided properly by a Spiritual Master in Meditation.
The simplest technique is to:
Sit in a comfortable posture and ensure that nothing disturbs or touches your physical body.
Close your eyes and look/concentrate on the seat of the Soul. (The Third Eye: the place between the two eyebrows). Do so in a relaxed manner without putting any stress on your eyes.
Repeat the Name of God. Choose any one of the names of God. Repeat it inwardly. It helps to still the mind.
Thus, we withdraw from the world of physical sensation and go within.
Evidence is there that regular Meditation brings an Inner Peace, a sense of physical well being, an equanimity and poise to face the challenges of life. This Inner Peace radiates itself to the outer world. Meditation helps a person rise above Physical consciousness and be detached. At the same time, the person is one with God and can feel the Divine presence in animate and inanimate objects around him. This Inner Peace leads to Outer Peace.
We did try this Technique of Meditation on thousands of students by asking them to meditate at the beginning of the School day for 10 to 15 minutes, under the supervision of their Teachers, in their Classes. The Children were asked to practice Meditation at Home also. We found remarkable progress: increased attention span, more concentration and improved performance. The teachers also felt the same.
What I am writing is based on feedback from students about Meditation and its benefits, if any. The Experiment is still continuing in about 15 Schools managed by Darshan Education Foundation, Delhi, India.
The guiding Light is His Holiness, Paramsant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj; the President of Worldwide Science of Spirituality and Sawan Kirpal Ruhani Mission, Delhi, India.
Visit: http://www.sos.org/ and
http://www.darshanacademy.org/
I have found that daily Meditation helps reduce stress considerably. One only needs to be guided properly by a Spiritual Master in Meditation.
The simplest technique is to:
Sit in a comfortable posture and ensure that nothing disturbs or touches your physical body.
Close your eyes and look/concentrate on the seat of the Soul. (The Third Eye: the place between the two eyebrows). Do so in a relaxed manner without putting any stress on your eyes.
Repeat the Name of God. Choose any one of the names of God. Repeat it inwardly. It helps to still the mind.
Thus, we withdraw from the world of physical sensation and go within.
Evidence is there that regular Meditation brings an Inner Peace, a sense of physical well being, an equanimity and poise to face the challenges of life. This Inner Peace radiates itself to the outer world. Meditation helps a person rise above Physical consciousness and be detached. At the same time, the person is one with God and can feel the Divine presence in animate and inanimate objects around him. This Inner Peace leads to Outer Peace.
We did try this Technique of Meditation on thousands of students by asking them to meditate at the beginning of the School day for 10 to 15 minutes, under the supervision of their Teachers, in their Classes. The Children were asked to practice Meditation at Home also. We found remarkable progress: increased attention span, more concentration and improved performance. The teachers also felt the same.
What I am writing is based on feedback from students about Meditation and its benefits, if any. The Experiment is still continuing in about 15 Schools managed by Darshan Education Foundation, Delhi, India.
The guiding Light is His Holiness, Paramsant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj; the President of Worldwide Science of Spirituality and Sawan Kirpal Ruhani Mission, Delhi, India.
Visit: http://www.sos.org/ and
http://www.darshanacademy.org/
Sunday, October 26, 2008
HOW TO TEACH CHILDREN WITH DIFFERENT ABILITIES?
Teachers and I mean all teachers have to face this problem. My teachers faced it, I faced it and now I mentor teachers as to how to deal with it.
We never have a homogeneous class, it is always heterogeneous. Believe me, teaching a class where there are children with the same knowledge, same skills and same learning abilities (though an impossible situation unless we have a group Matched on various variables after detailed Psychological Testing and Factorial Analysis) would not be a challenge to a good teacher. It would be routine and monotony.
We ought to find after testing as to what are the Learning Styles of our students, check their Entering Behaviour and where we find that it does not suit the minimum expectations at entry level, organise a bridge course and improve upon their Entering Behaviour. If majority of students show poor learning abilities then we need to change our objectives, our expectations and choose curricular areas that will help in improving upon their Entering Behaviour.
Most important is our Instructional Procedures or Strategies. We should adopt a Multi sensory Approach; choose from a range of Activities on a topic, those that are obligatory and those that are optional. Give students the freedom to choose projects and activities from a Grid that allows them the freedom of choice at two levels; Taxonomic and Multiple Intelligence. In the process we will find that while all children perform activities at Lower Levels of Remembering, Understanding and Application; only a few will choose activities on Analysis, Evaluation and Creating. Similarly different children will choose activities as per their Intelligence.
We have to teach keeping the average 68% in view most of the time and the remaining 32% who are evenly distributed at the two ends of the continuum: 16% Above average need to be challenged with activities, projects and assignments as a programme of Enrichment and Acceleration and the other16%-Below average need immediate Remediation but after Diagnostic Evaluation and they need our time, attention, patience, reinforcement and care. This is the challenge to a teacher.
We have to follow practices that have been tested and found useful; like Peer work, Group work, Use of colour and Music, Movement Breaks, enough opportunities for Review and Practice.
We have to individualise our teaching in a classroom setting. This is not difficult at all provided we have all the background information about each child and we have learnt to transact curriculum at various levels.
Cheer up. We all did it. I am sure you can do it better than us.
We never have a homogeneous class, it is always heterogeneous. Believe me, teaching a class where there are children with the same knowledge, same skills and same learning abilities (though an impossible situation unless we have a group Matched on various variables after detailed Psychological Testing and Factorial Analysis) would not be a challenge to a good teacher. It would be routine and monotony.
We ought to find after testing as to what are the Learning Styles of our students, check their Entering Behaviour and where we find that it does not suit the minimum expectations at entry level, organise a bridge course and improve upon their Entering Behaviour. If majority of students show poor learning abilities then we need to change our objectives, our expectations and choose curricular areas that will help in improving upon their Entering Behaviour.
Most important is our Instructional Procedures or Strategies. We should adopt a Multi sensory Approach; choose from a range of Activities on a topic, those that are obligatory and those that are optional. Give students the freedom to choose projects and activities from a Grid that allows them the freedom of choice at two levels; Taxonomic and Multiple Intelligence. In the process we will find that while all children perform activities at Lower Levels of Remembering, Understanding and Application; only a few will choose activities on Analysis, Evaluation and Creating. Similarly different children will choose activities as per their Intelligence.
We have to teach keeping the average 68% in view most of the time and the remaining 32% who are evenly distributed at the two ends of the continuum: 16% Above average need to be challenged with activities, projects and assignments as a programme of Enrichment and Acceleration and the other16%-Below average need immediate Remediation but after Diagnostic Evaluation and they need our time, attention, patience, reinforcement and care. This is the challenge to a teacher.
We have to follow practices that have been tested and found useful; like Peer work, Group work, Use of colour and Music, Movement Breaks, enough opportunities for Review and Practice.
We have to individualise our teaching in a classroom setting. This is not difficult at all provided we have all the background information about each child and we have learnt to transact curriculum at various levels.
Cheer up. We all did it. I am sure you can do it better than us.
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