Closing the Gap

         Without question teachers should be prepared to teach to a class that has a range of learning levels however a classroom such as this is a constant challenge for teachers. In regards to math teachers, this challenge arises most often in grades 6-9 where each new concept heavily relies on the use of prior knowledge. Imagine teaching area and surface area formulas in a grade 8 class where a group of your students do not know the proper order of operations (BEDMAS) or do not know how to perform basic operations without the use of a calculator. This would be very difficult to teach to the entire class when a large learning gap exists between these students and students who can apply the new formulas to problems involving critical thinking. The goal of the teacher is narrow the gap and one method of differentiated instruction used is available through EduGains called "Gap Closing Resources". These resources include topic specific diagnostic tests which can help teachers pinpoint what concepts students are stuck on. Once a problem area is identified there are extra work sheets for the student to practice. I have personally worked with these resource sheets in a grade 7 math class. In a class of 26 students there were 5 students who were using Gap closing worksheets. After the teacher had taught the lesson the 5 students would work on problems in their Gap Closing booklet which were related to the lesson. They were required by the teacher to finish those questions before attempting the questions from the textbook or work book assigned that were assigned to the entire class. I believe these booklets do help, most of the students I worked with were making the same mistakes and after practicing questions in the booklet they were able to understand where they were going wrong and as a result they caught up to the rest of the class.             

        To assess just how wide the learning gap is in the classroom, teachers can incorporate a variety of websites and apps into a pre-lesson or pre-unit "warm up" as opposed to a traditional test of existing knowledge. In my class this week we explored a website called "Which One Doesn't Belong" where four pictures within a similar category are shown together and students must describe how and why one picture is unlike the rest. The website organizes the pictures into the sections; Shapes, Numbers and Graphs and each section has pictures that range in grade level. I think a great idea for teachers would be to combine the concept of this website with a Kahoot presentation. Not only can teachers use the pictures from wodb, they can create many similar questions focusing on the same specific mathematical concept. By using this anonymous forum, students may feel more relaxed and inclined to answer honestly instead of guessing or not answering on regular tests. Also by customizing their own Kahoot, teachers should be able to get a general idea of the knowledge gap in their classroom. In the end this teaching strategy would not be a loss because for students who are struggling this exercise could possibly help them better understand a concept and for students who are excelling this is a great way to review and strengthen their skills before moving on to a new unit.

References:

Gap Closing. (2016). Edugains.ca. Retrieved 11 October 2016, from http://www.edugains.ca/newsite/math/gap_closing.html

Which One Doesn't Belong. (2016). Wodb.ca. Retrieved 11 October 2016, from http://wodb.ca/shapes.html

Kahoot!. (2016). Kahoot.it. Retrieved 11 October 2016, from https://kahoot.it/#/

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Learning Gap. (2016). Retrieved from https://www.quora.com/I-always-hear-people-advising-JEE-aspirants-to-get-their-concepts-cleared-But-how-do-we-get-clear-concepts