Choosing between Groups of Students

As department head I was invited by the principal to attend junior commencement. The event took place on Wednesday afternoon in the gym. I arranged to have my classes covered through our "on call" system where teachers who cannot be in class get a colleague to cover their class in the cafeteria area designated as the study hall. This is arranged through the office and is common practice.
Five of my students were being honoured with awards that afternoon. The rest of my group was in study hall doing seat work under the supervision of the designated on call teacher. As I sat on stage, after having presented the award for my subject area, I began to feel strangely uncomfortable. Though I was pleased to be present to honour the five top acheivers of my class, what about the rest of my students who are not as successful and who are not receiving the benefit of meaningful teaching as they sit in the study hall?
I felt compelled to discreetly exit the stage (as other colleagues had done) so I could spend the time with the students who most needed assistance with their learning, but finally decided it would not be fair not to be fully present and engaged in the ceremony (the principal was on the stage a few chairs away from my seat).
Did I make the right decision?

Differentiating Instruction

The class I work hardest to prepare for is by far the applied group. The class harbouring the most resistance to the subject I teach, with the low functioning students, is the one I want to reach the most. Why? First, because I don't want to lose the ability to reach them with topics and approaches they will find somewhat compelling. Secondly, I cannot rely on pen and paper, rows, and static classroom positions.

Last semester, I did a Multiple Intelligence inventory with the group at this level and found that 80 percent of them learned best through body-kinesthetic means. Keeping them seated and expecting them to learn was antithetical to their natural abilities!

Tomorrow, I'm working on an Arts intervention project with this group. A musician is coming in next week with his portable studio. He will show them how recording a song is done. Then we wlll come up with a theme, groupings for verses and different approaches based on student interests. So what do I do with the students who are the least musical? I will have to give them an alternative form of expression, while maintaining my expectation that they communicate orally in a meaningful way.....More the think about....