TOO FAST – TOO SLOW (MIXED ABILITIES)

RATIONALE Everyone faces this problem Believe that everyone is not the same – cater to different learning needs The problem faced How do we cater to the students on extreme ends: too fast vs too slow

SCHOOL BACKGROUND SK SRI DAMAI, PJ POPULATION: 253 Students 20 Teachers CLASS : Kindergarten– Year 6 even have class for the special needs students 1 class for every level Average students: 28 – 38 students Include inclusive students (Autistic students) Every class have at least 2 – 3 students (a teacher aid is provided to them)

MIXED ABILITIES? Case study: Year 2A Number of students: 35 + 3 (autism students) 23 boys and 15 girls Language level 10 (very good) They can do and finish their work without having much difficulty – early finishers 14 (average) Can still do it with a little bit of help 14 (very weak) Need extra help in understanding the task given – need more time to complete task

WHY IS IT A PROBLEM Couldn’t focus on all of them at one go If we focus on one group (the weak ones), others would go haywire If we try to cater to either one, the class would still go haywire RESULT: CHAOTIC E.g. spelling

WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES Remedial class for Bahasa Melayu and mathematics Focus on Year 2 & 3 For slow learners who are slow in reading and counting English, the English teachers have extra class with them (Yr 6)

HOW WE SOLVE IT Differentiation  different task sheets for different level Early finishers  enrichment activities e.g. word puzzle, find-the-word etc During practice stage  call the slow learner to teacher’s table for extra help Cooperative learning  the good ones help the weak ones

EFFECTIVENESS Differentiation  Yes (pitched to right level) Early finishers  Yes but they tend to finish their work even faster to do the extra task During practice stage  Yes to a certain extent (must have good classroom control) Cooperative learning  Yes to a certain extent (too many weak students to be handled noisy)

CONCLUSION As teachers we should be aware of our students’ background and abilities Thus, we need to cater to their needs by pitching the lesson to the right level As teachers we should be willing to do extra work; prepare different task sheets We should always have extra enrichment activities ready in case of early finishers

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