Hey Guys! I thought I would share this story because it has to do with exactly what we talked about last week.

On Thursday, right after class on Wednesday I went to my internship that I do twice a week. I work with two classes and one of the classes that I work with is called "Freshman Academy". This is a group of kids that are at the lowest level of learning. They stay with the same group of kids all day, and move from class to class. Thursday when I was there something happened that we talked about. All the kids were listening to the teacher lecture and she was asking questions, and one particular student said he didnt know the answer because he was "stupid". As the day went on many of the kids said the same thing. This was only the third time I have been with the class, so I was so surprised to see that going on. It made me very sad that they think they are stupid! I think this is definetly the bad aspect of grouping!

Anyways, I just thought I would share that with yall because we talked so much about it the other day, and then I saw it first hand.

That's awful. I have a feeling a lot of students think that way about themselves. I think that the unfortunate students that are being grouped into the "lower level" classes have lost much of their motivation, and so have their teachers. Teachers should expect no less from these students than the ones placed in honors, AP, etc. because they are all capable of doing excellent work, holding intelligent discussions, etc. If the teachers have more faith in their students and encourage their motivation, they probably would not feel that way about themselves.

Erin I completly agree with you on how the teachers should hold the same standards for these "lower level" students. I do want to say that I am lucky enough to work with a teacher who does hold these standards high for her students and she doesnt allow them to say negative things...although it obviously sometimes happens, however she is not very tolerable of it. She tries to motivate these students as much as possible, so I do need to give her credit for that!

Amy you are lucky to be in a class where the teacher holds the low students to the same standards as the rest of the class. All to often when the low students are grouped together they feel inferior to the other students. If only they could have a teacher like yours to offer encouragement and motivation.

I understand what you all are talking about with the students that call themselves "stupid" and a lot of times I feel like these students are just saying this to get out of having to do something. A lot of times I feel like this generation is becoming more and more lazy and they don't even try.

Amy, that is really sad that someone would say that about themselves, but were they just doing it so that they wouldn't have to think maybe? or do you really think they are trying?! I don't know a lot of times I see students who are capable of being in a higher level reading or writing group, but they just don't apply themselves?! I don't know, I'm just at a loss of words for the whole grouping issue that has come up. I understand that a lot of times students just do not have the capability to learn as fast as others, but that shouldn't hold back the learning of the fasters ones?! Who knows the answer to this problem!??!