Thursday, 8 October 2015

Day 24: Closing Achievement Gaps in Grade 10 Applied Mathematics

Today I had the pleasure of joining Rose Paemurd’s grade 10 applied math class for a ‘Gap Closing Day’ at Eastview Secondary School. The learning goal was to close gaps in preparation for an end of unit assessment on topics related to the equation of a line. Prior to today’s class, Ms. Paemurd administered a diagnostic assessment designed to pinpoint specific areas needing additional attention, unique to each learner. This evidence was used to organize today’s learning groups, so that rather than spending unnecessary time reviewing topics already mastered, each student focused strictly on topics that needed attention.



Students struggling with the fundamental concept of slope and y-intercept worked on iPads loaded with a Gizmo to explore dynamic visual models. Other students worked on topics such as calculating slope, contextual applications and determining the equation of a line. Some of the higher level thinking questions required students to synthesize other topics from the course, such as rearranging equations and performing operations with integers and rational numbers.

What about students who demonstrated consistent strength across all topics on the diagnostic? These ‘peer experts’ were strategically deployed among each of the learning groups. So struggling students had support on at least three levels to consolidate their learning:

1) peer learners with similar struggles,
2) peer tutors having demonstrated mastery, and
3) teacher support.


The result: a lot of accountable talk between students, students helping each other learn, and a teacher free to provide focused support where it is actually needed. What a great example of differentiating instruction and optimizing student and teacher workflow! Thanks for sharing Rose!

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