Address a Wide Range of Skills and Abilities in Your Classroom

There is no one-way to address a wide range of skills and abilities in your classroom. Often times, what works with one group of students may or may not work with another group of students. So as an educator, just like an experienced worker, one must have a variety of "tools" inside his or her "kit" to make sure that all students are mastering the material in the classroom. Often times, that requires teachers making the necessary preparations in their lesson and unit plans, scaffolding material, using multiple, alternative, holistic assessments, and extending the learning out into the real world.

In some instances, this simply means giving students the ability to stay after school to finish an exam or test, and in others it might mean, pulling your students that are excelling, challenging your students with helping to assist with other students who maybe struggling. The key is to make sure that all your students are being challenged and nutured and that there are multiple forms of assessment. Student presentations and exhibitions of student learning are great places to start because there are many fundamental skills that both supposed high-mid-low level students need to succeed in today’s marketplace. When we begin to focus on the skills that are necessary for the 21st Century, then we can begin to identify specific skills that students have and others do not. As an educator, we should make that transparent and allow each other to understand that we all have skills and abilities that we need to improve on and that the classroom will be a safe place where we can begin to grow and to make progress towards that end.

In this way, students can begin to help each other and see each other as resources rather than as competitors. We all bring certain natural talents and skills into this world and by working together we can create the change that is necessary for a better place for all. As an educator, we would all celebrate our strengths and create spaces where we can ask each other for help and support. When we create a classroom such as this, then WE can address a wide range of skills and abilities, using and leveraging the support services of families, communities, and the school to ensure that all students receive an exemplary educational experience that prepares them for college, career and beyond.