In the previous blogs in this category, I wrote about:

• Working in groups, getting started
• Instructions and roles within the groups
• Collaboration instead of competition
• Study materials and support

In this blog, I write about the different ways assessments can be done, if they have to be done at all (!).

Assessments can be carried out in a multitude of different ways. Some subjects lend themselves better to paper-and-pencil assessment, others require student’s performance on stage, in a workshop or a laboratory.

There is a progression of options regarding assessment.

1. The teacher decides what, when and how the assessment will be done
2. The teacher asks for feedback on the assessment after the students have completed it
3. The teacher makes adjustments to the assessment before using it, in collaboration with key students
4. The students suggest a range of possible forms of assessments. Teacher decides
5. Students suggest and decide what the assessments will be, and how they will be carried out.

In the traditional classroom, it is the teacher who decides what and how to assess the students’ knowledge and skills levels. This was most appropriate when there was a fairly homogeneous class of students. However, in the modern classroom, the spread of knowledge and skills is such that a different approach must be taken.

Formative and Summative assessments
Since teachers are responsible for giving grades at the end of term, so-called summative assessments, these are best left in the professional teacher’s hands until such time as these grades are removed from the education world.

Feedback from the teacher
The assessment area which is open for development is the formative assessment where the teacher gives feedback on what the student does and does not know, how well they can do what’s expected, and ways of learning what needs to be learned in order to meet certain grade criteria.

Feedback from students
One way of developing the formative assessments is for the teacher to ask for feedback regarding the students’ perception of the fairness and accuracy of the formative assessment. Some teachers may be concerned that they are giving away their power and responsibility. This is far from the case, it is indeed increasing responsibility, putting it where it will ultimately lie, with the students. 

Teachers can make adjustments to the assessment method based on the feedback in an effort to make the assessment fair and accurate more often.

Students suggest. Teacher decides
The next level would have the student suggesting forms of formative assessment that are appropriate for them. They know quite well what their challenges are and can ask to be assessed in a way that is appropriate for them. At this level, the teacher still decides together with colleagues perhaps on the correct form of assessment.

Self-assessment
As the students mature they can both suggest, and decide in some cases, exactly how they will be assessed. Perhaps by the teacher. Perhaps by other students. Here you can see that responsibility for assessment lies increasingly heavily with the student. This is more appropriate as students reach maturity, and are being treated as adults.

In the previous blogs in this category I wrote about:

• Working in groups, getting started
• Instructions and roles within the groups
• Collaboration instead of competition

In this blog, I write about the ways Study Materials and Supporting students can be varied so that you meet the needs of a wider range of students.

​Study Materials
It is normal that study material is delivered in various forms, videos, pictures, texts, books, websites et cetera. 

• Some material adaptations may be necessary.
• Some of the material may be at a complex level and other material may be simplified. 
• Some language support may be necessary.
• Not all materials have to come from the teacher, but it is natural for teachers to gather such materials that are found to be useful. 
• Not all support has to come from the teacher, students can learn from each other. It’s a useful life skill to be able to work with differently gifted colleagues. That skill can begin with supporting classmates.

An effective way to support a greater number of different students - rather than trying to do it all yourself - is to form groups.
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Making groups
There are many temptations when making groups. Teachers might seek to ‘protect’ certain students or strategize to ‘guarantee’ good results. Whilst having full respect for those concerns, there is a risk of limiting the learning from getting the groups ‘wrong’. It is worth the risk of giving Lady Luck a hand in making the groups.

Here’s a Lady Luck way to make groups.

1. Prepare a pack of playing cards (or similar) with
2. Enough cards for one per student
3. Groupings by colour or card or number
4. Give each student a card as they come into the room, telling them to make groups based on the colour or suit of the card or the number on it.

It’s quick. And, yes, some teachers do use this method and manage to ‘slip the right card’ to ‘certain students’.

Prepare in advance
The next level is to prepare group lists before the start of the lesson, based on whatever criteria you choose. There is a small risk in this strategy of some students arriving late, or not at all, and thus affecting the ideal composition of the group.

Count off
​Another level is to ‘count off’ the students into groups according to where they are sitting or standing at the time. 
You can count aloud: 

• “Group A is, you, you, you... and you” or 
• “Group A, Group B, Group C etc. Group A over here. Group B over there etc” 

At a higher level, regarding student responsibility, involve them in the composition of their own groups. Say “Choose people you have not worked with before”.

Mature students handle this beautifully even in their teens.

In the last blog in this category I will write about

• Range of assessment

In the previous blogs in this category I wrote about:

• Working in groups, getting started
• Instructions and roles within the groups

In this blog I write about the beneficial effects of collaboration for the teacher, and for the students as future employees / entrepreneurs.

As you can see in the previous blog about working in groups, the rules and the group work roles lend themselves towards collaboration.

However, many students may still have a competitive mindset, where they compete for the teacher’s attention, getting the right answers, getting the highest marks et cetera or competing to get the class's attention, getting the most laughs.

To develop a sense of collaboration, each of the groups can be given a unique task rather than each group having the same task. When you design the group activities, you can consider the following:

Competition
All groups are given the same activities. The ‘winners’ are the students who get the most answers correct, most quickly.

Collaboration
Each group gets a different, but related activities. The ‘winners’ are the whole class with each student contributing to the overall understanding, in their own way.

One way of working collaboratively in groups is to use the Jigsaw Strategy where 4 to 6 groups delve into a package of study material that is unique to each group and then share the results with the whole class. 

Examples
Generally, in the Jigsaw Strategy is a process of smaller pictures being assembled to make a larger picture. 

• In some cases the ‘smaller pictures’ come from mixed media study materials. This might be done at the presentation and teaching stage.
• In some cases the ‘smaller pictures’ come from the memories and experience of the learners. This might be done at the review or assessment stage.

Example 1 From details to overview
In order to gain a complete picture of the topic being studied, each group’s contribution is shared.

1. Take a large amount of mixed media study material.
2. Give each group a roughly equal share.
3. Let them use the materials to get started discussing what they know and what’s new about the topic.
4. Move some students from one group to another. Now they share what they have read, seen, discussed in their two groups.
5. Repeat the process until every student has been in several groups.
6. Share, in writing, Q&A, or performance, what they have learned.

Example 2 Case Studies
In order to solve the problem, each group needs to share their information in such a way that the other groups understand and come to the same (correct) conclusion.

1. Each group gets a different (but related) Case Study. They read, discuss then write their solution describing how they would solve the problem.
2. After a set time, move the case studies to other groups who now validate or correct the previous group’s solution.
3. This can be repeated until several groups have seen and solved several case studies.

In the next blogs in this category I will write about

• Study materials and support
• Range of assessment

In the previous blog in this category I wrote about

• Working in groups, getting started

In this blog I write about the necessary instructions and roles that make groups work collaboratively

Once you have experimented with rapidly splitting the class into groups for short activities under your direct control, the next steps are to run parts of the lesson with slightly more structure and a higher level of independence from the teacher.

In a modern classroom, students need clear instructions about who is to do what, the timeframe, and the expected results.

Example
Suppose you are going to teach a topic and want: 

• To know what the students can recall from their previous school, classes, teacher etc so you know what to teach
• The students to realise what they already know, and do not know, so they are ready to learn new things

You can use this 10-minute group activity for the end of a lesson so that you can prepare the next lesson. You will give the same question to all 4-6 groups and will receive different answers from them.

Instructions
“What do you already know about (this topic)?”

1. You have 6 minutes to write down words and concepts you associate with (this topic)
2. Make sure everyone gets to speak
3. Speak one at the time
4. Give time for group members to write / draw
5. One person will present for the group to the class

In the next blogs in this category I will write about

• Collaboration instead of competition
• Study materials and support
• Range of assessment

In the first blog in this category I wrote a simplified overview of the changing landcape of schools over the past 30 years.  

In a modern school there is great use of working in groups so that:

• The teacher can include a wider variety of students in the same class
• Students learn to appreciate differences as a valuable resource in collaborative work such as they will need in their work as an employee or employer for example

One way of including a range of different students is to work with groups.

Groups function like small classes within the classroom.
​The groups can be homogeneous, or diverse.

• Initially, the groups can be formed at random, although it is likely that a teacher with knowledge of the students in their class will make certain judicious choices so that each group has a fair chance of succeeding with the activity. 
• The group should be small but not too small. Depending on the size of the class, 4 to 6 groups can be made with 4 to 6 students in each group. That covers class sizes from 16 to 36 students.
• The groups should not be permanent, indeed a group could be formed for less than the length of the lesson, or for 10-20 minutes.
• There is an initial effort involved in building groups, when the teacher is not used to forming groups, and when the students are not yet used to working in groups.
• However, over time, the resistance to working in groups diminishes. And by the third or fourth time group activities are used, both parties will be more comfortable with the process and the benefits of working in groups will begin to show. 

Four Corners Activities
An effective way to get started working with groups is to use a Four Corners activity with the teacher as controller or director. In these activities, the students are encouraged to stand in one of four corners in the room depending on which response or answer they wish to give to the teachers prompt or question. 

It should be noted that a Four Corners activity should include a mix of questions of a factual nature with prompts for opinions that are not provocative or controversial. Having said that, Four Corners is an excellent way of promoting deep conversations on controversial issues. That is not our purpose here.  


Example

Question “What is the capital of France?”
A) Paris B) Berlin C) London or D) give me a clue

Prompt “The school lunch yesterday was...)?”
A) delicious B) edible C) nutritious or D) palatable 

Getting started
Start small, and develop group activities gradually.

​The first Four Corners group activity might be done at any time during the lesson - when the students need to move around for example - so the teacher and the students can begin to experiment with dividing up the class in different ways. 

In the next blogs in this category I will write about

• Instructions and roles within the groups
• Collaboration instead of competition
• Study materials and support
• Range of assessment

I received the above request from a teacher in a Facebook group. What attracted me most about this request was that it was elegant and authentic. The teacher was asking what they could do without making too much more effort than they were already making. 

And that’s understandable and fair because nobody wants teachers to work harder than they do already, even though we do want them to get better results and include students of all levels and abilities in the same classroom.

Getting better results for less effort requires an upgrade to our usual thinking about what education is for, and how it is done. Luckily, the landscape of the classroom has changed since you were in school.
​

In a series of five blogs in the category "Five Tips from a Retired Educator" I share a handful of ideas that will move your classroom teaching into the modern era, and move the workload and responsibility where it belongs - with the students. 

But that shift of responsibility needs to be handled caringly, assertively and with vulnerability from the teacher. These five steps will help you with that. And, if you would like to speak with me about it, click here

This topic has been covered in greater depth elsewhere, but for simplicity, based on three decades of teaching, I offer the following three descriptions, snapshots from three generations of teaching:

Traditional classroom

• One teacher and an ideally homogeneous group (class/set) of students. The students follow the same plan of lessons and activities and are expected to learn in the same way. The teacher generally stands at the front of the room and teaches from the blackboard.
  

​Transitional classroom

• One teacher and a class of students with a range of skills, abilities and interests. The teacher generally ‘teaches to the middle’ and paces the lessons according to the ‘average’ student, and then adds on extra . The result is that both the better-able and the less-able students are frustrated. So is the teacher, who is working hard to prepare several types and levels of lesson to teach simultaneously.

Modern classroom

• The teacher acts as a director and facilitator, designing activities collaboratively with colleagues and students to suit the wide range of abilities and interests represented by the students in their class. ​

I am going to assume that you have not been given any particular training in how to include a diverse range of students in the same class so I will start with two basics.

1. We are all different
2. We all want to be included

In any modern-day classroom, there will be students who are more or less interested in the subject, have a greater or lesser grasp of the skills and knowledge and are more or less socially mature than the average. There are students who are living with an advantage or impairment of some kind and who need special consideration in order to feel included in the classroom activities.

Teachers are professionals, they go to great lengths to prepare materials, activities and assessments suitable for the many kinds of students they have in their room class. 
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This can be exhausting until the teacher has developed their own library of materials and pallet of activities.