Removing Ability Grouping while increasing Problem-Solving

One of the biggest missteps that occurs in math core instruction is people trying to organize it the same as they do their reading workshop.  

Traditionally in reading workshop, students are grouped by reading level and then called to the teacher to read and discuss a text at their level.  The teacher's small group instruction is really concentrated during this time when meeting with a small group of students away from the rest of their classmates.

In math workshop, we do not recommend this kind of grouping for students often.  In fact, through the work of Peter Liljedahl, more and more teachers are reading and using the research around VRG: Visibly Random Grouping. In his book, Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics, he explains how he realized students are more successful this way.

Visibly Random Grouping can be intimidating to some teachers because it means that they have to give up some of their control.  Not like let the room run crazy loss of control, but letting students work with whomever they match with.  Teachers have spent a lot of time organizing and reorganizing their groups for activities.  The thought of just letting it be random might be a lot.  However, once teachers begin to use VRG, they tend to love the results.

To begin with, the students should witness that the grouping has been random. There are apps that group students randomly(even Dojo), but you can always use playing cards, popsicle sticks, birthdays, or any other method that helps them see that you did not intentionally choose who was going to work together. Liljedahl's research shows that groups of 3 work best in most grades to get all students thinking.  In the primary grades, he recommends groups of 2.

Here are some of the benefits of VRG:

• Increased engagement
• Improved collaboration skills
• Reliance of students on each other more than on the teacher
• Improved student ability to work with anyone and recognize the strengths that classmates possess
• Better flow of learning with students not just sharing in their group but also with others in the room: the feeling of being on the same team
• Perception of the students that the teacher believes they can do it.  They don't have to be placed with a student who can "pull them along" or one that they need to support. No matter who they are with, they will be able to access the problem and move forward.

As teachers begin to move towards more use of VRG, they will find themselves removing labels from students.  This subtle shift in thinking will carry over into the students' views of each other, too.  This video by Jo Boaler offers somemre insight into the benefits of heterogenous grouping.

There are many teaching shifts that Liljedahl discusses in his book.  Visibly Random Grouping is one that is a great first shift for all teachers, and it will help when they decide to give a Thinking Classroom a try.