StrategiesforManaginga

HeterogeneousClassroom
Dr.LauraKonigsberg
BentleySchool
CAISRegionalMee?ngPresenta?on

ReassessingOldParadigms
Copingwitharangeofstudentlearnersversus
structuringourteachingandlearningaround
heterogeneity.
Classroommanagementaboutcontrol,discipline,
complianceversuslearningcommuni?eswhere
studentshaveastakeintheirownlearning.
Onewaycommunica?ontostudents(e.g.,lectures)
versusinterac?verolesforteachers(e.g.,facilita?ng,
demonstra?ng,andmodeling).
Sageonthestageversusguideontheside(for
ac?vi?esthatinvolveques?oning,problemsolving,
inves?ga?ng).

AppropriateLearningEnvironments
Organizedclassroomsthatrunsmoothly.
Createdbyteacherswhoseetheclassroomthrough
studentseyes.
Whereteacherskeepacloseeyeonstudentbehaviorand
whodealwithotasksswiSly.
Whereinforma?oniscommunicatedclearly,andtasksare
brokendownstepbystep.
Featureteacherswhoteachappropriateacademicand
socialskillsexpecta?ons.
Wherestudentshavechoicesabouttasksandresponsibility
fortheirownlearning.
Takeintoaccountstudentslearningstyles,aWen?onspans
andintelligences.

 Studentsneedappropriatechallenges,secure
environments,opportuni?estoexploreideasandgain
mastery.
Studentsneedtolearntoaskques?ons,tothink
cri?callyandtointeractverbally.
Studentsneedtobeabletoconstructmeaningby
interac?ngwithpeers,problems,andissues.
Learningismoreeec?veifconceptsarelearnedin
contextandrelatedtoexis?ngknowledgeandto
emo?onalaect.Studentscannotactuallylearn
applytheirknowledgewithoutemo?onal
engagement.Thinkingclearlyisanemo?onalprocess.

 Notallstudentsneedtobedoingthesamethingatthe
same?me.Groupworkisanop?on.
Studentsarenotatthesamelevelofreadiness,and
theydon'tlearninthesameway.Assignmentscanbe
distributedsothatgroupsofstudentscanbeworking
atdierentrates.
Studentsneedtobeac?velyinvolvedinmaking
decisionsandmodica?onstotheirlearningeorts.
Theybenetfromreec?ngontheirlearningstyles
andprocesses.
Peerteachingmaybeasvaluableforthechildwhois
teachingasitisforthelearner.

Sources:Dr.JayGiedd,chiefofbrainimaging,childpsychiatrybranch,NIMH;PaulThompson,AndrewLee,KiraleeHayashiandArthurToga,UCLA
LabofNeuroImaging;Ni?nGogtayandJudyRapoport,childpsychiatrybranch,NIMH

Useitorloseit

BriefLookattheAdolescentBrain
CorpusCallosum:Thoughttobeinvolvedinproblem
solvingandcrea?vity.Duringadolescence,bersthicken
andprocessinforma?onwithincreasingeciency.
BasalGanglia:Helpstheprefrontalcortexorganize
informa?on.
Amygdala:Emo?onalcenterofthebrainprimalemo?ons:
fear,rage,ght/ight/freeze,stronglikes/dislikes.Teens
relyheavilyontheamygdala,respondingmorewiththeir
gut.
PrefrontalCortex:Responsibleforexecu?vefunc?oning:
organiza?on,impulsecontrol,ra?onalthought,planning,
judgment,an?cipa?on,abstractthinking,resis?ng
tempta?on,goalsefng,strategizing.

PerilsofOneSizeFitsAll
Threeprinciplesfrombrainresearch:
emo?onalsafety,appropriatechallenges,and
selfconstructedmeaningsuggestthataone
sizetsallapproachtoclassroominstruc?on
teachingisineec?veformoststudentsand
harmfultosome."CarolAnnTomlinson

Learningenvironmentsmustfeelemo?onallysafe
forlearningtotakeplace.

Ifastudentfeelsunsafe,hisbrainproduces
noradrenalin,whichtriggerstheght/ight/
freezeimpulse:selfpreserva?onover
learning.
Stressalsoimpedesthehippocampus,the
brainslearningandmemorycenter.
Studentswhoselearningstyleorreadinessis
notaddressedinaclasswillnotfeelsafe.

Tolearn,studentsmustexperience
appropriatelevelsofchallenge.
Ifthecurriculumtranscendsastudents
readiness,stressneurotransmiWersare
produced;theyimpedelearning.
Ifthecurriculumisredundant,thebraindoes
notengageorrespond,soitdoesnotrelease
thelevelsofdopamine,noradrenalin,
serotoninandotherneurochemicalsneeded
forop?mallearning.

Eachbrainmustmakeitsownmeaning
ofideasandskills.
Whatenablesacademicallydiversestudentstomakesenseof
essen?alunderstandingsandskills?
Teachingbasedonconceptsandtheprinciplesthatgovernthem:
learnerscanbeWerconstructframeworksofmeaning,seethe
rela?onshipbetweenthepartsandthewhole,relatethesubjectto
hisorherownlife,usetheideasmorereadily,andretrieveand
rememberideas/informa?onbeWer.
Strugglinglearnerscanfocusonwhatismostimportantand
powerfulinthecurriculum,whileadvancedlearnerscanextend
theirunderstandinginameaningfulway.
Brainlearnsbestwhenit"does,"(notwhenit"absorbs).Challenge
studentstothinkatahighleveltosolvechallengingproblems.

ComponentsofDieren?ated
Classrooms
Teachersndoutaboutstudents'currentreadiness,
interests,andlearningproles.
Teachersusethisinforma?ontoprovidevaried
learningop?onsandbuildlearningexperiencesaround
theimportantconceptsofthecontent.
Studentsuseessen?alskillstoaddressopenended
problemsdesignedtohelpthemmakesenseofkey
conceptsandprinciples.
TeachersoSenpresentseverallearningop?onsat
dierentdegreesofdicultytoensureappropriate
challengeforstudentsatvariedreadinesslevels.

ComponentsofDieren?ated
Classrooms
TeachersoSengivestudentschoicesabouttopicsof
study,waysoflearning,modesofexpression,and
workingcondi?ons.
Teacherspresentinforma?oninvariedways:orally,
visually,throughdemonstra?on,parttowhole,and
wholetopart.
Instruc?onalapproachesinviteaWen?ontoindividual
needs,forexample,learningcontracts,graduated
rubrics,complexinstruc?on(involvingopenended
tasksaroundabigconcept),readiness,andproblem
basedlearning.
Studentscollaboratewithteachersandpeers.

ComponentsofDieren?ated
Classrooms
Teachersmeetallstudentsattheirstar?ngpointsandguide
eachonealongacon?nuumofgrowthasfarandasquickly
aspossible.
Teachersmayassignstudentstogroupsinvariousways
(randomly,similarreadiness,mixedreadiness,similar
interests,mixedinterests,similarlearningprole,ormixed
learningprole).
Teachersdesignhomeworktoextendtheindividual's
understandingandskilllevel.
Variedassessmentop?ons:porjolios,authen?cproblems
tosolve,oralpresenta?ons,andtests.
Gradereportsarebased,atleastinlargemeasure,on
individualgrowth.

TeachingHeterogeneousStudentsLendsItselfto
Teaching21stCenturySkills
TonyWagner:CodirectorofHarvardsChangeLeadership
Group,promo?nghigherlevelsofintellectualandsocial
skillsforwork,ci?zenship,andlifelonglearning:
1.Cri?calThinkingandProblemSolving
2.Collabora?onandLeadership
3.AgilityandAdaptability
4.Ini?a?veandEntrepreneurialism
5.Eec?veOralandWriWenCommunica?on
6.AccessingandAnalyzingInforma?on
7.CuriosityandImagina?on

Source:Wagner,Tony.RigorRedened,Expec?ngExcellence.66(2):October2008,2025.
hWp://www.ascd.org/publica?ons/educa?onalleadership/oct08/vol66/num02/Rigor
Redened.aspx

ExamplesofPerformanceBasedTasks

(fromtheCollegeWorkReadinessAssessment)

InCrimeReduc?on,thestudentassumestheroleof
consultanttoamayorrunningforreelec?onagainsta
citycouncilmanwhoseideasforgh?ngcrimeare
dras?callydierentthanthoseofthemayor.
InSweetgrass,thestudentisajournalistwri?ngan
ar?cleaboutanewhighfructosesugarmadefrom
sweetgrass.Thedocumentsincludeaweeklynews
magazinear?cleaboutobesity,ajournalar?cleon
sweetnessandobesity,afoodindustryreviewonsugar
metabolism,andmedicaljournalar?cleabstracts.
Source:hWp://www.vbschools.com/schools/tes?ng/cwraStudents.asp

MoreExamples
InMuseum,thestudentisamuseumcuratorassignedwith
designa?ngvariousworksofart(pain?ngs,photos,poems)to
dierentwallsthatrepresenttheposi?ve,nega?ve,andambiguous
eectsoftechnology.
InAirplane,thestudentisanexecu?veassistantatacompany
thatmakesprecisionelectronicinstruments.Thecompanyssales
departmentisabouttobuyasmallprivateplane(SwiSAir235)
whensuddenlyanaccidentinvolvinganotherSwiSAir235occurs.
Thestudentmustmakearecommenda?onwhethertobuythe
planebasedoninforma?onabouttheaccidentandthe
performancecharacteris?csoftheSwiSAir235,aswellasother
informa?onincludinganFAAreportonsingleengineairplanes.
Source:hWp://www.vbschools.com/schools/tes?ng/cwraStudents.asp

Addi?onalReferences
CouncilforAidtoEduca0on.hWp://www.cae.org/default.asp
EnhanceLearningWithTechnology.hWp://members.shaw.ca/priscillatheroux/dieren?a?ng.html
Feinstein,SherylG.SecretsoftheTeenageBrain:ResearchBasedStrategiesforReachingand
TeachingTodaysAdolescents.CA:CorwinPress,2009.
ImmordinoYang,MaryHelenandAntonioDamasio.WeFeel,ThereforeWeLearn:The
RelevanceofAec?veandSocialNeurosciencetoEduca?on.Mind,BrainandEduca?on.
1(1):310,2007.hWp://wwwbcf.usc.edu/~immordin/
InsidetheTeenageBrain:InterviewwithDr.JayGiedd.hWp://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/
frontline/shows/teenbrain/interviews/giedd.html
Jensen,Eric.TeachingWiththeBraininMind.Alexandria,VA:Associa?onforSupervisionand
CurriculumDevelopment,2005.
Tomlinson,CarolAnnandM.LayneKalbeisch.TeachMe,TeachMyBrain:ACallforDieren?ated
Classrooms,HowtheBrainLearns.56(3):pp.5256.1998.
hWp://pdonline.ascd.org/pd_online/brain/el199811_tomlinson.html

Wagner,Tony.TheGlobalAchievementGap:WhyEventheBestSchoolsDontTeachtheNew
SurvivalSkillsOurChildrenNeedAndWhatWeCanDoAboutIt.NY:BasicBooks,2008.
Wilson,LucindaM.andHadleyWilsonHorch.Implica?onsofBrainResearchforTeachingYoung
Adolescents,MiddleSchoolJournal.34(1):2002,5761.