"It's a Boy" & Ability Grouping

 While sitting in Chicago, Illinois on July 22nd at an SDE
conference an excited member of my group raised his hand.  
Why?  He wanted to share details, via his smart phone that
the press released the news that the Duke & Duchess of
Cambridge were parents of a baby boy.  Earlier my
group had jokingly talked about the impending birth,
while many participants were speculating 'boy, or girl?'

After all, the press had been camped out for over a week outside the hospital in London where Kate was anticipated to give birth. 

  Social media around the globe shared the fact
that the birth of a child destined perhaps to
be King of England one day,
was announced via a "tweet."
 

Things change in an instant, do they not?

Fast-forward to Sunday July 28th when I was checking
my Twitter news feed, coming across an article
in Classroom Q &  A with Larry Ferlazzo, entitled

Using -- Not Misusing -- Ability Groups In The Classroom
http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/classroom_qa_with_larry_ferlazzo/2013/05/response_using_--_not_misusing_--_ability_groups_in_the_classroom.html

It's an excellent read!  After thinking about it, I've concluded that how I'll approach my students will always be most important.  Children are capable learners.  It's an educator's job guiding them "to be ready," and tackle the next challenge or lesson.  Ability is an ever-changing dynamic, therefore assuming kids have limited skills is wrong.  Flexible grouping is essential; with that challenge comes the necessity for us to know our kids and their abilities well. 
We can do this!  Remember that kids are able when and if given the appropriate learning opportunities suited to their needs.  Why?  

 

       Things change in an instant, and they do.   

 "Grouping students should be done based on what we know about students and how to maximize their learning, not because we were told to group students in a differentiated instruction seminar. We group purposefully."                ~Larry Ferlazzo

Consider following Larry via Twitter

@Larryferlazzo 
Don't miss his fine blog:  http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/