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Situational Groupings and a Spreadsheet

Published April 1, 2008 Assess , Assessment , Formative , Formative assessment , Group , Small group , assessment for learning , formative feedback , learning gap 4 Comments
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I’ve switched from standard grouping to situational groupings. In situational group, the students are regrouped based on the frequent formative assessments done in the classroom. Therefore, the students in each group and the purpose of each small group differs. These groupings change frequently. This week’s “lack of transitions”group disappears based on the next formative assessment but a new grouping of “run on sentence” students appears based on the assessment of their papers and may last several classes.

The situational grouping is facilitated by the use of a spreadsheet in which I score/rate student’s performance and specific skills so that I can have the computer sort for those who scored in the low 2 and 1 range in the 4 point scale (4 = above proficient). A quick sort and I know the students in my next grouping. The harder part is to find focused instructional materials that help those students overcome that learning gap.

4 Responses to “Situational Groupings and a Spreadsheet”

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  1. 1 Camaal Moten April 1, 2008 at 9:50 am

    I think that your situational grouping idea is absolute genius! Keeping track of the student’s performance will really allow for an in-depth perspective on a child’s overall development. Filtering the scores also gives teachers the power to continuously personalize the group experience based on each student’s uniqueness. How did you form your formative assessments? I’m currently a student at Full Sail studying Education Media Design & Technology and my goal is to produce some of those focused instructional material. It encourages me to see the developments you are making in your classroom. Keep it up!

    Reply
  2. 2 hgtuttle April 3, 2008 at 4:31 pm

    My formative assessments are based on the students’ learning tasks that are standards-based. I may do an observation, have students do peer evaluation, do self-evaluation, or collect mini-samples to analyze.

    Harry

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  3. 3 Camaal Moten April 6, 2008 at 4:37 am

    This is exciting stuff. You are the first person that I have meet that actually collects, records, and uses the data. Are there many parents that are interested in seeing their kid’s data?

    Camaal

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  4. 4 hgtuttle April 6, 2008 at 4:35 pm

    Camaal,
    I teach at a community college so I do not deal with parents. I do know that the students are very interested in seeing their own data.
    Harry

    Reply

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