In today’s world of education, one would be remiss to deny the positive effects of having a collaborative, student centered classroom. That being said, balancing the appropriate amount of differentiation, scaffolding, collaboration, and student engagement while still focusing on achievement. Grouping is something that I have experimented with greatly in my classroom over the past five years, and I feel that I have finally formed a system that works for me and my students. My plan was developed specifically for my middle school Math classroom, but I am confident that it could be easily adapted to other classrooms, subjects, and grade levels.
Group Size and Classroom Arrangement
So you have decided to embrace groups in your class. My first experiment was how big to make my groups and how to arrange the desks in my room. I have found that this choice is very attuned to your personal style of teaching. I began with groups of four, simply because that is how my mentor teacher during student teaching in my undergrad had her room divided. During my first year of teaching at a small charter school in San Diego, I shared a room with the Science teacher. She had the long lab-like tables arranged in rows the stretched across the entire room, which I soon rearranged as I found it was very hard for groups to work together when they were not facing each other. When I was given my own classroom at my next school, I went back to groups of four, then groups of two (as my teaching partner preferred) and then back to groups of four. Enu, Danso, and Awortwe (2015) found that as long as groups were between three to five students, collaboration would be supportive and effective----so choose what works for you and your students.
Student Choice
I knew I wanted my students to work effectively in their groups and be motivated to work in their groups. When making decisions in my classroom, I often try to think about what would motivate me as a learner. Incorporating an element of choice was important to me. Let’s face it, we like to choose who we work with, even as adults. Increasing student choice is an effective way to motivate and engage your students and give them a sense of ownership in their learning (Brooks & Young, 2011). However, as teachers, we know that allowing your students free reign of who they work with can result in chaos and no work completion, so I wanted to be careful in how I incorporated student choice in their grouping. I also think it is important as a life skill for students to develop collaboration skills with peers who are not their close friends.
Heterogeneous or Homogeneous Grouping?
When considering what type of grouping system to use, I knew that flexibility was going to be important. Heterogeneous grouping has been shown to be effective for students of all ability levels (Heltemes, 2009). However, I also knew that sometimes my struggling students really needed some more targeted support and it would be hard to provide this to them if they were scattered throughout the classroom. The phrase “ability grouping” has a lot of stigma surrounding it. Homogeneous grouping is not necessarily bad, if done in a way that remains flexible and focuses on supporting students. Through research, Gamoran (1992) synthesized that “when students are grouped according to skills that are closely related to the curriculum and when curriculum and instruction are tailored to students’ capacities, ability groups may raise achievement” (p. 6). Homogeneous grouping provides teachers an opportunity to closely observe student work in their groups and provided targeted support to struggling students (Sammons, 2010). Additionally, these groups would allow my higher-achieving students to work further through the tiered lessons (Levy, 2008) to push their thinking and provide extra challenge in the limited cals time. These types of groups must be chosen appropriately based on the lesson and should not be a permanent structure. Whatever groups were chosen needed to be flexible and periodically reassessed in order to maximize effectiveness (Feldhusen & Moon, 1992).
Cookies, PB&J, and Jello
After taking all of these ideas into consideration, I decided to develop three groups. One would highlight student choice, one would be ability-based to support more teacher intervention and guidance, and one would be mixed ability to support all students. I also wanted a way to easily and quickly communicate which group we would be working in each day, while also creating an easy way for me to remember which group was which. My middle schoolers are constantly thinking about food and so Cookie, PB&J, and Jello groups were born. Cookie groups would be the special “treat” where students had full choice over who was in their group. PB&J groups would be mixed together, just like peanut butter and jelly. Jello groups would represent a homogeneous, for lack of a better term, blob of students.
The Process
The following steps are how I form these groups in my classroom. For me, groups are created each time we begin a new unit. I currently teach six units throughout the year, so the groups change roughly every one and a half months.
I begin by roughly sorting students into two groups: students who may need more support and students who may need more challenge. These groups are based on a number of factors such as pre-tests, observation, categorical NWEA MAP scores, etc. For example, when we begin our Geometry unit on Transformations, my more visual students tend to excel and my more rigid-thinking students might need more support. This list will be used later for both PB&J and Jello groups.
Before forming the groups, I remind the students of some expectations. I have them take a moment to reflect upon their own strengths and relationships, who they think they will work well with, and most importantly, who they know they will not work well with (I proactively have private conversations with certain students who know they are not allowed to work with certain peers). I remind them that they will not be able to be with the same people for all of their groups. I also remind them that if we have an uneven number number of students or if someone cannot find a group, that we will figure it out and it is not something to worry about.
Cookie groups are first and are the easiest. Students are directed to create a group of four of their choice and sit down with this group at a table when they are done. After a quick scan and possibly some tweaks by the teacher, students record their Cookie groups in their notebooks. I also record the groups on a document which I will keep for reference.
Jello groups are next. I display the list of students I previously created and ask students to find their name and stand on that corresponding side of the room. I take care to make these names as mixed as possible and switch sides throughout the year to avoid students thinking there is a “smart” side of the room. Once students are on their assigned side, I instruct them to create a group of four out of only those students on the same side of the room as them. As before, once they create their groups, they sit down and record the names.
PB&J is the final group and often the most challenging. This usually includes the most struggle as students are limited to fewer choices because they cannot be with someone for all three groups. I display the two groups of student names again and ask students to once again stand on “their side” of the room. Now this next part is the tricky part and can be done in a few different ways. The idea is that you want two students from one side of the room and two students from the other side of the room to form one group of four. Sometimes I ask students to create this group of four before sitting down, while other times I might have the pairs from one side of the room all sit down at different tables and then have the pairs from the other side of the room to do the same.
Switching it Up Once the groups have been established, it is extremely easy to quickly communicate to students which groups to switch into for the day. I make this decision based on the lesson that we will be doing that day and which groups will best support the students for that lesson. I might use Jello groups on a day that incorporates some review so that I can focus on supporting struggling students or if the lesson provides a great extension opportunity for students who need a challenge. PB&J groups might be used for lessons that all students are contributing and building learning of key concepts together. I often use Cookie groups for introductory lessons, review days, or days when I allow students the option to work more independently within their group.
I have found that this system really works for me and my students. They enjoy having different groups to work with and the amount of choice involved. I enjoy being able to differentiate my daily lessons based on what my students need at the time. Honestly, do not lose sleep over forming an absolutely flawless grouping approach. Any grouping is effective, particularly for STEM subjects, as opposed to individual, isolated learning (Springer, Stanne, & Donovan, 1999).
Resources
Brooks, C. F., & Young, S. L. (2011). Are Choice-Making Opportunities Needed in the Classroom? Using Self-Determination Theory to Consider Student Motivation and Learner Empowerment. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 23(1), 48-59.
Enu, J., Danso, P. A., & Awortwe, P. K. (2015). Effects of Group Size on Students Mathematics Achievement in Small Group Settings. Journal of Education and Practice, 6(1), 119-122.
Feldhusen, J. F., & Moon, S. M. (1992). Grouping gifted students: Issues and concerns. Gifted Child Quarterly, 36(2), 63-67.
Gamoran, A. (1992). Synthesis of research: Is ability grouping equitable?. Educational Leadership, 50, 11-11.
Heltemes, L. (2009). Social and Academic Advantages and Disadvantages of Within-class Heterogeneous and Homogeneous Ability Grouping.
Levy, H. M. (2008). Meeting the needs of all students through differentiated instruction: Helping every child reach and exceed standards. The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas, 81(4), 161-164.
Sammons, L. (2010). Guided math: A framework for mathematics instruction. Shell Education: Huntington Beach, CA.
Springer, L., Stanne, M. E., & Donovan, S. S. (1999). Effects of small-group learning on undergraduates in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology: A meta-analysis. Review of educational research, 69(1), 21-51.
Tieso, C. L. (2002). The Effects of Grouping and Curricular Practices on Intermediate Students' Math Achievement. National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented.
Switching it Up Once the groups have been established, it is extremely easy to quickly communicate to students which groups to switch into for the day. I make this decision based on the lesson that we will be doing that day and which groups will best support the students for that lesson. I might use Jello groups on a day that incorporates some review so that I can focus on supporting struggling students or if the lesson provides a great extension opportunity for students who need a challenge. PB&J groups might be used for lessons that all students are contributing and building learning of key concepts together. I often use Cookie groups for introductory lessons, review days, or days when I allow students the option to work more independently within their group.
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