amanda conrad post 2

I don’t want this to be a bash session on the teacher I am working with but I can’t help but notice another problem I have with the way she runs her classroom. She has been doing a lot of group work and activities lately, and I have a huge problem with the way she puts her students into groups. First of all she has no seating arrangement, so the students they are doing awful academically sit in the back corner, the students who are doing well sit in the front, and there are a few special education students that sit somewhat in the middle. The special education students get made fun of a lot and I absolutely can not handle it. I feel so badly for them and I just want to yell at the kids who make them feel so badly on a daily basis. Anyway, the teacher announces that they are going to do some group work today and then she just says to get into groups of three. Obviously the cliques come out and it leaves about five outsiders looking around and wondering who is going to want to be their partners. I felt awful for these kids and so I suggested to the teacher that maybe she should put students into groups so the kids don’t feel so bad about themselves….well she said to me that that was too much work for right now and she didn’t have the time. I was appalled….there is no way that I would let those kids stare around the room and have their feelings hurt because no one wants to be their partners. It is not hard at all to have pre-made groups, and if anything…just say who you want in a group out loud, it doesn’t necessarily have to be on paper. Shoot, I was mad and I will never forget it. I’ll always put my students into groups for them. Not to mention, doesn’t it help with learning styles, study skills, and cooperation? Hello?? Is this lady clueless or what?