1. TOO FAST – TOO SLOW (MIXED ABILITIES)

2. 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

3. 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)

6. MIXED ABILITIES? Case study: Year 2A
Number of students: (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

8. 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

9. 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)

13. 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

14. 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)

15. 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

16. THANK YOU