| Stop the Brain Drain; One Size Does Not Fit All | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Oct 26 2006, 05:30 PM (1,624 Views) | |
| mikefromholland | Nov 7 2006, 06:37 PM Post #31 |
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Principal
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Holland is doing exactly this kind of differentiation within the classroom. It's interesting that one of the justifications for Holland's focus schools (after it was evident they were hurting the district financially) was that instruction would be improved using differentiation strategies in the focus schools that were not possible in neighborhood schools. Specifically, students were to be pulled out of classrooms and regrouped into differentiated groups for individual subjects. The district made a big issue of how the ability to do this was an advantage of the focus schools. When the schools actually tried to implement this, it proved so unworkable and impractical that it was abandoned -- I believe within months if not weeks. Instead the schools went to differentiation within the individual classroom ... which could have been done just as well in the neighborhood schools! |
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| NFarquharson | Nov 7 2006, 06:50 PM Post #32 |
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Principal
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Some LPS teachers already are already differentiating within the classroom by creating subgroups within their class. At least some of my own kids' teachers have done this at the smaller neighborhood schools they used to attend. For example, my daughter's first grade teacher seperated the kids into reading groups based on the level each child was able to read and picked appropriate materials for each group specifically. I'm certainly no expert, but this seems pretty reasonable to me! I'm not sure yet if this is happening this year, but I see no reason why it wouldn't or couldn't, unless the larger class sizes they have would make it more difficult. Based on what I read here, there sure does seem to be a wide variety of experiences. If there is evidence that some of these differentiation strategies produce results, they can be implemented under any grade configuration. |
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| c3hull | Nov 8 2006, 02:39 AM Post #33 |
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Principal
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It would have been so much more cost efficient to have a few Foreign Language teachers go to different schools, once a week than to put an additional 4,000 kids on 20 new busses. The same goes for the Technology staff. Special needs of 6th graders for this complete chaos created in our community and $10 million later? What an equitable trade off huh? Anyone and everyone involved with forcing the Legacy upon us needs to either help fix/reverse this mess or seek employment elsewhere! The true impact will not be felt for a few more years. It will be the "trainwreck" our mayor and thousands of parents predicted!
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| CKlockner | Nov 8 2006, 08:20 AM Post #34 |
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Principal
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It will be the Legacy That Lost Livonia |
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| Mrs.M | Nov 8 2006, 09:45 AM Post #35 |
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Principal
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I remember the varying teaching levels applied to the varying abilities within the classroom years ago; it was stopped because of being 'damaging to the self esteem of students'. At whose expense? Nothing mentioned about damaging to the learning ability of the higher achieving students. STUDENT LEARNING a priority in LPS. |
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| Deleted User | Nov 8 2006, 11:29 AM Post #36 |
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Deleted User
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This is what's wrong with our country right now. Parents are too wimpy to even stand up to their own children! I have read comments from parents who say "My kids are happy about the bus ride, and thats all that really matters". We are so worried about damaging our kids egos that we let them do whatever makes them "happy". Then they get the shock of a lifetime when they enter the real world totally unprepared. They find out that life isn't all rainbows and puppy dogs. This really chaps my ass when I hear that a good and productive procedure was halted because it might "hurt some kids feelings". Maybe we should focus on teaching that kid to do better if he wants in that group. |
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| Elisa | Nov 8 2006, 11:48 AM Post #37 |
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Principal
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I agree, Friday. It will come down to a "self esteem" issue sooner or later. If our kids are not challenged to their fullest potential they eventually come head to head with those who have. In the long run, in the real world, they WILL be at a disadvantage and their self esteem will suffer a blow. If you want to keep your kids self esteem in tact, don't ever move to a district that differentiates, they will be at the bottom of the class. It is really amazing to see how far kids can go when simply given the opportunity. Unfortunately, My kids' self esteem was kept artificially high while at LPS, they are paying the price today. |
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| Anna Krome | Nov 8 2006, 01:25 PM Post #38 |
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Principal
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"Self-esteem" issues and the fear of not being PC have stagnated our schools. There should be more opportunities for kids to thrive--not just ACAT/MACAT. All children have potential. It's time to tap into that potential and nurture it. The future looks bleak--we have nearly lost the manufacturing base--the base of the middle class--to China. As such, we must prepare our children for the realities of the future. And, that doesn't mean everyone must be a college grad. That's crazy--all kids are not meant for college--and that's O.K. Again, we can't force everyone into the same "box." LPS must be innovative once again in education, and LI ain't it. We can work to help kids from dropout and falling into dead-end jobs, potential substance abuse --and crash! Where are we now? AK |
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