Team-based disruption...
I have an interesting problem where about four students are consistently both center-stage students and exceedingly disruptive. The size of my class (only about seven students) means that even separated - they are never too far apart.
It seems to be a problem of them not understanding the work - getting frustrated - giving up - and commencing the off-topic conversations, cell-games, heckling, what have you.
Now, the other three students in the class are very well behaved - hard workers - and generally good students. Who have expressed their discontent with having to always slow the class down to accommodate the other students. In this unique situation - that is NOT hypothetical - you have about half of the class in remediation - and the other half struggling to slow themselves down.
How would you deal with this situation? I've thought about letting the other students work ahead - or maybe splitting assignments into an EASY-MODE and HARD-MODE style - where there are two objective choices based on skills. But this doesn't seem fair to the students who choose the more challenging bit and get the same grade as the less difficult one. Plus I'm worried it might cause some psychological shift knowing that there is a delineated A-Team and B-Team in the class.
Until then I just try to work at a medium pace - slow for the fast half - and fast for the slow half - not sure if that is the best choice, however. Any suggestions?
Wow! That sounds like a difficult class - I don't envy you. I had a student who always complained that the work was too hard and it was hard to handle. Have you tried doing group work? Or pairing high achieving with low achieving?
Hi William,
You can not water down the curriculum for the slower ones to catch up. Teach at a comfortable pace and those who are unable to grasp will need to come in for additional help. You must keep things moving.
Patricia Scales
