Reply To: Sarah's Progress Log

[Sarah Merrylees]

Challenge: Normally when we think of a differentiated classroom, we are dealing with students who have usually been following more or less the same national curriculum.  The challenge being faced in my current international school classroom in China is that some students are two or three years ahead of the set curriculum because of private tutoring and/or different home country curriculums, while others are brand new to the grade level concepts.  In an unstreamed environment it is particularly difficult for some of the students not to see themselves as “behind” or not “good at maths” because they are comparing themselves unfairly with students who have seen (and mastered) the material before. The amount of planning required is huge to cater for such diversity of knowledge rather than ability.  Any suggestions for doing this well will be most appreciated.