Rethinking Grouping in Math Workshop

As we continue to work to grow in our role as leaders of mathematicians, we need to begin to rethink our use of grouping in the elementary classroom. Ms. Boaler gives a strong argument for us to consider why we should not use ability grouping in our classroom.

For a long time, we thought that grouping our students by ability during math workshop was a great way to meet everyone's needs.  I know. I did it for a long time, too-- many different groups, many different activities.

But, as we learn more about best practices of mathematical instruction, we discover that providing ALL of our students the opportunity to be engaged in rich, challenging, mathematical activities and tasks. 

This does not mean that reteaching skills to some of your students is not the right thing to do.  Of course, there are times that reteaching and scaffolding are necessary for our students.  Having flexibility in our grouping is important and should not be so difficult as we learn more about our students

In the past few years, I have read articles and books about this.  I have participated in professional development that discusses this.  I have listened intently to members of my PLN discuss the importance of eliminating tracking and the impact it can have on our students.  Here are some of the best resources I have used to gain this mindset:

Another great article to read is this one by Nick Tutolo.  Although it is focused on middle school/high school math, its points are still important for us, as elementary teachers, to consider.

This change in our instruction is not without some challenges.  However, I believe that we will be able to see more growth in ALL of our students if we begin to use some of these best practices:

• Low floor-high ceiling activities
• Use of CRA instruction in order for all students to build their conceptual understanding
• Number talks that encourage and embolden students to use methods/strategies that help them understand better
• Use of visuals for all math concepts allowing all students to gain an understanding
• Building time into your schedule for your students to participate in explorations and other tasks to grow their critical thinking
• Continued modeling of growth mindset in our words and actions
• Eliminate referring to our students by ability 

What changes can you make in your classroom to allow all of your students to grow as mathematicians?