Differentiation in the Thinking Classroom

The weekly etymology paragraphs are probably the best thing I've done this year. I've written about them before, but as a quick overview:

• Students write on a topic (usually given to them, and about whatever text we're studying) 
• They include one word of their choice from each of the roots they've learned (originally ten a week, now I pared down to six)
• They include one to three spelling words from the week's spelling rule
• They work together to write it on their boards
• I grade it during class and give them feedback on whatever skill we're focusing on, and how well they were able to use the words

I have had a few kids who have expressed a bit of frustration when they had groups that didn't want to work as hard as they did. Their group was fine with a 70%, but they wanted 100%, and the tension was hard to deal with for them. Often, they'd just do most of the work but tell me is was "equal effort" and doctor the total on the speaker board so it looked more equitable. 

One student asked if I could have a "change your seat" reward in PBIS. I thought about it, and came up with these criteria:

• You must currently have an A or B in the class
• You have to buy it before you come into class (so before you know your seat)
• If three people buy it together, they can form their own group

Today, we tried it for the first time. There was one group in each class that took the "all three buy it together" option, and several who opted to choose their own seat. 

The scores in those groups were on par with the averages from all the other groups. However, I noticed that some of the students who have been least engaged actually stepped up more when they didn't have someone take over the group process. I would say today's activity was the most peaceful, successful Friday we've had in a long time. 

I also made one additional change. I pull small groups every other day, but we don't have time on Friday to do it. So I chose three students in each class who typically do very well on the paragraphs, and could use a little extra enrichment. These are students who put the effort in to make it good, not just to make their grade good. 

I had them complete the activity separately, but gave them an additional requirement: use an appositive somewhere in their paragraph. We talked through what an appositive does, and how to use them. One group set themselves the goal to use five appositives, even though I asked for only one. 

Those groups rose well beyond my expectations, and their paragraphs were stellar. They also were far less frustrated today, as their group was equally motivated. I plan to work with them on the emotional regulation side as well, as I think there's a lot of benefit to working with people who need explanations broken down a little more than they are wont to give. 

I'm glad I didn't make any of these changes before this point in the semester. It has shown me the typical behaviour of each student, and helped me differentiate my instruction and feedback.