The above picture is taken from behind home plate in Oxford at the very first baseball game our NPJH boys had ever played. It was a tough game, but they were excited to be there, playing against probably the toughest team in the region. I was glad to be there and support them. While I was there, I thought about what the experience of driving into the school parking lot on the bus might have been like for our boys. I drive that road all the time and hardly think anything of it, other than how lovely that section of town is, but it must have been a totally different world for them. Oxford is so very different from North Panola, and the kids all know it. They know that their lives are different from others, but they are proud of who they are and where they come from. Because of this, they are more likely to respond to instruction that takes into account their unique and individual backgrounds.
This year at North Panola, a lot of communication has been very unclear. We were told fairly early on that we were going to be required to create "flexible groups" based on skill level, and were told to work with certain students more so than others. At first, we were told to focus instruction on only our "Bottom 25%." Later, we were told to focus on our "Bubble Students." At another point, we were told to focus on those that were close to proficient. I took this all to mean that all students require individualized attention, even though the opposite intent was fairly obvious. Although I have mixed feelings about cooperative learning, I do feel as though I am better able to address certain students' needs with them in groups. Additionally, the lower-performing students are able to get extra assistance from the inclusion teacher whenever possible. Since the most advanced students were left out of this attention equation, it has given them the opportunity to take leadership and initiative in being trusted to work on tasks by themselves. I occasionally have extra credit assignments ready for the more advanced students for whenever they complete assignments, so that they can continue practicing.
This year at North Panola, a lot of communication has been very unclear. We were told fairly early on that we were going to be required to create "flexible groups" based on skill level, and were told to work with certain students more so than others. At first, we were told to focus instruction on only our "Bottom 25%." Later, we were told to focus on our "Bubble Students." At another point, we were told to focus on those that were close to proficient. I took this all to mean that all students require individualized attention, even though the opposite intent was fairly obvious. Although I have mixed feelings about cooperative learning, I do feel as though I am better able to address certain students' needs with them in groups. Additionally, the lower-performing students are able to get extra assistance from the inclusion teacher whenever possible. Since the most advanced students were left out of this attention equation, it has given them the opportunity to take leadership and initiative in being trusted to work on tasks by themselves. I occasionally have extra credit assignments ready for the more advanced students for whenever they complete assignments, so that they can continue practicing.