Creating and maintaining classroom interaction is something that every teacher wants and needs to have.

Grouping student is one of the simplest ways to change the dynamics of the classroom.

The following are the 5 types of classroom grouping arrangements

The whole class working together with the teacher
The whole class mixing with each other as individuals
Small groups of 3 to 8 students
Pairs
Individual work

It is important to know when and how you as a teacher can use any of these 5 types of groupings in a classroom.

When you are using any of these grouping strategies you need to ask yourself,

What am I trying to achieve by using a particular grouping strategy?

Does this help me achieve my aim quicker that any other methods?

Will this make my students more involved?

Will the classroom interaction be better?

Have you thought about each of the grouping strategy may dynamically change the class?

Are you willing to try something new and different?

Each class you have is different and you have to be aware that what might work in one class may not work at all in another.

Do certain students stick together in your class? Can you use grouping strategies to get students to work with different students.

I have also found that some students will finish a task very quickly and others will be very slow. How can grouping strategies work here to cope with this issue. Typically I find that the students who finish the quickest are sometimes the sloppiest. The quality of the work is disregarded so they can be the first to finish.

There are many variables in teaching and classroom grouping is only on of many ways that you increase the quality of the learning experience in your classroom.

Karl Johnson teaches English as a Second Language in Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam. For more information, contact me to find out how you can teach ESL. I'd be happy to help you with more information

http://www.oneminuteteacher.com

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