Multi-age Teacher

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Home : 2003 : May : 18

Multi-age Teacher
By Casey Beverlin

First of all, don't panic; you're already teaching multi-age! If you are teaching children with different academic abilities, then you are a mult-age teacher! I teach a multi-age first and second grade (children stay with
me for two years). In any classroom you teach, you are going to find children with different academic abilities(as much as plus/minus two years). I personally teach to a second grade level even though half the class is first grade. I just provide more support for the first graders and I differentiate what is expected from each depending on idividual students' needs. I always teach

new concepts in a whole group setting. That way first graders can experience it and will have prior knowledge and a better understanding of the concept by the time I expect it from them. I always enlist second graders as "teacher helpers" or models for the first graders. They participate in buddy reading, have a second grader "check" their work before turning it in, and much more. I also do a lot of small group work, especially for reading instruction. Because I expect students to work independently for at least an hour a day while I'm teaching small groups, I have to model extensively what I expect independent workers to look like and sound like, make sure the idependent work is meaningful (not dittos), and the children are actually capable of the idependent assignment. Obviously, I could go on for a lot longer. Contact me if you want more information.