Small Group VS. Whole Group Instruction Debate

0:07 Hi, it's Robin Wilson here and welcome to the Education Podcast, Education Connection Podcast. Hi, I'm Chris Nessie from the House of EdTech Podcast, a part of the Education Podcast Network. Just like the show you're listening to right now, shows on the network are individually owned and opinions expressed may not reflect others. Find other interesting education podcasts at edupodcastnetwork .com. went to a workshop this past summer and I first heard about education kind of swinging to the place of whole group instruction and I don't know how you've been taught but going back to even my college days small group was where it was at and I'm always

1:38 open to new ideas and understanding what is the best return on investment that we have in our class. and you know what's going to get the biggest bang for our uh what we're doing in the classroom so i'm open to understanding this but i'm going to be honest with you the very first time i heard it i thought no way it goes against every single thing i've ever been taught so yeah we're going to be talking tonight about small groups groups versus whole group instruction and what's best for elementary students so i don't know after researching this i may come out with a different idea I kind of feel like at the end though we're going to come down to it being balancing it all out and using what's best for your kids in this situation. I don't think for education that any any one way going all the way is ever going to work. I know back a few years ago we had whole word learning versus phonics learning or breaking the word apart and sometimes there is a place for whole word learning but most of the time we need to learn how to break those words apart but you really need to embrace both. Once a child understands for example when you're walking through the grocery store and you are standing in the lane to check out and you just look over and you glance at a headline about recipes you don't

3:09 you see the word recipes you do start remembering that that word is recipes. You don't have to sound that out anymore because you've actually memorized that sequence and so becomes a part of your whole word learning. So don't come at me. I'm not saying that that's the way we should learn but I'm saying once you get past breaking a word down you do tend to go into that whole word Memorization as adults we do that and even Students when they began learning to read so I just want to welcome you to the education connection We're going to explore real talk for teachers Of course I'm your host Robin Wilson and today I'm diving into a hot topic in elementary education and they say it's a hot topic because when I first heard about going whole group for everything I was it was a little hot topic for myself and I know it was for other educators as I've talked about and you know the saying is true I did not experience it until after I'd been teaching for a few years, but education just goes in a big circle. And so everything goes around and it comes back around. The old becomes new and the new becomes old. So I just want to dive into this to see what maybe your thoughts are, which one works better. why is it such a big debate

4:39 right now and most importantly what's best for our students. So grab your coffee and at the end of the day maybe if you're just grab a snack from the kitchen and let's jump in. So we're gonna start with a quick refresher. A small group instruction is when a teacher works with a few students at a time usually grouped by ability. while the rest of the class maybe works independently or maybe they're working in other small independent groups giving you time freeing time up for you to be able to work with small groups. It's often tied to approaches with guided reading which became super popular through balanced literacy programs. Now whole group instruction on the other hand means teaching all students together exposing everyone to the same lesson typically at grade level. This approach is becoming more common in classrooms that follow the science of reading model. So I think the science of reading is where this is kind of starting to explore into the classrooms and go into the classrooms a little bit. So for years Ever since I've been teaching, small groups have been set as best practice. Why? Because they allow us to differentiate.

6:01 We can meet kids right where they are, give them targeted instruction, and build relationships in those cozy little circles. Teachers have the flexibility. You can reteach, extend, or just checking in with struggling readers without losing the whole class. But there's a catch. The catch to some are it's a criticism and it's getting louder especially from researchers in science of reading advocates is equity. When we group students by ability we sometimes unintentionally track them and that means struggling students often students from low -income backgrounds get less access to grade level content but listen I'm in the classroom and when I'm working with those small groups I'm making sure that I do meet with every group and not just my high group so I'm making sure that all groups are being met with but this is the criticism that some are not meeting with those small groups and so when one group is working with the teacher the others are supposed to be engaged in meaningful work but let's be honest sometimes it's more like a worksheet but that does not have to be the case as a defender of small groups we would have games and I had an assistant with one of my games and then one of my groups was a required

7:33 reading program that our school requires to do so that was putting that group in a required environment that they were not goofing off and they were not playing around as any classroom setting you're always going to have those times when you have students that are goofing around so I'm not saying I never did have that happen but I can tell you for a surety I worked to meet with my lower students and I worked to make sure every student had time with me as a teacher in my small group so that no one was left behind and the other thing that I did in defense of this is I actually would meet with my lower group sometimes more than my higher group it's not that I left my higher group out but I could honestly get them started on reading say a chapter in a chapter book and going to answer the questions like I could set them off to reading the chapter while I worked with my lower group and then at the end of that group go back and assign my higher group with some comprehension questions and they could actually do that on their own. So in reality, from somebody that has worked for many years in small group, my smaller groups got more close up one on one attention with me. So that but

9:04 that's the criticism is that students are left out. In some situations, I'm not saying in your situation they were either, but that's what some are saying So why they're saying whole group is on the rise the model emphasizes explicit systematic teaching especially in reading Everyone gets the same content the same instruction in the same high expectations The science of reading community really backs this up saying it's the best way to build foundational skills, especially in phonics and comprehension. Supporters also argue that you lose less time switching groups and managing behavior, more time, more teaching time equals more learning. So I'm looking at that and I can see the benefit of that. If I could just stop here and go off of my notes a little bit in. teaching in a whole group unless I am on my toes my tippy toes there are some that will be staring off into space or possibly not following along and me trying to get the information out there I'm just human and so me trying to get the information out there and teach them I have had those students that are not paying attention Equally as much as what the criticism is for small group instruction. So when I'm in

10:35 a small group, I'm actually able to identify that quicker and Tap the table and bring them back to me a little bit better in small group But I kind of I can see what they're saying about the switching of the group and losing time So there is that I'm trying to stay open -minded um and also um the of course whole group instruction isn't without its flaws some students might get left behind if they're not at grade level so if you're teaching at grade level in whole group there are some that are going to be higher and there's going to be some that are lower so this is the criticism And without some form of differentiation, it's hard to address the wide range of needs we see in every classroom. That's where many educators are asking, do we really have to choose?

11:31 So and I'm kind of moving like before, I have always done a whole group lesson and then we moved into small group. The whole group lesson has been on their level and then we move into small group to teach individually and kind of bring it down together. So I kind of like this idea a lot of teachers and researchers are called calling for a balanced approach and that's what they're calling it whole group for core instruction like phonics vocabulary and comprehension and then data informed small groups to reinforce or extend learning. The key here is being intentional not just grouping kids by level and keeping them there forever and I know every teacher in my hallway and I can honestly say I don't know of any teacher that keeps a student there forever in that group once they see them growing the groups are fluid and I think if you're really paying attention to your class and you know which direction a student is going you are able to make your groups fluid it's a matter of just changing some names on a board that you might already have up and just you know switching a couple out and moving some up moving some down.

12:50 These should be fluid in your classroom not keeping them there forever and so that was one of the criticisms of small group instruction and balanced literacy is they get stuck there forever but I can tell you I don't know any teachers that actually do that. I think as educators across the board we need to come together and do less judging and more open talk about it and understanding um educators and what they're doing in their classrooms instead of the assumption that that they're that they're for example keeping them for there forever in a small group because i mean i don't really know anybody that's doing that So back to small group or whole group, it's not about picking a side, it's about using the best tools at the right time. So I kind of like that idea. So small groups or whole group, the answer isn't one way or the other. The real question is, how do we make sure every student gets what they need? That might mean rethinking how we use time, how we group our students, and how we plan instruction. So it's okay to evolve I'm always trying to evolve and when I first hear something like that my immediate was reaction was No, I think what I'm doing is working but as any profession the way to Grow is to stay open -minded and take a look at it and see what

14:23 the positives and the negatives are and make what is the best decision for you in your classroom at the time. And just be careful as you're planning your instructions. Obviously if you have a student that is not going to be able to survive in that whole group instruction because maybe they're lost, they need to be pulled back in a small group at some point. What worked five years ago may not serve our kids today and that's okay. Before I go I want to share something exciting. I've officially launched my own web store and I talked about this over the last couple of weeks and I just want to shout it out there again today.

15:03 If you're looking for resources that support both small group and whole group instructions especially in the early grades check out firstgradeloves .com. You'll find materials I've used in my own classroom all designed with intention and a heart. Now right now I have one Product up there and it's get ready for first grade and I'm just gonna be honest I went to upload get ready for second grade and I downloaded the product from my my drive and I looked through it and I Said to myself self because that's what I call myself I think I need to update this product So that product has things have slowed down a little bit because I really want to give quality resources I don't want it to be something that's been on the shelf for a while I am updating it right now with the science of reading in mind and I will be up I'm gonna take this whole week to update that product get ready for second grade so if you know somebody going into second grade just stay tuned because I am updating that resource with the latest and greatest science of reading research base standards and making sure that that's all in there get ready for first it's already up and so get ready for seconds coming soon and I want to let you know that will be in the works and so I don't want to just throw a bunch of products up there

16:33 I want to make sure that I'm doing everything with intention with purpose and for the best for you the best resources for you so hey thanks for tuning in to the education connection if this episode sparked some ideas or maybe stirred up some strong feelings about whether or not you're going to be doing whole group or small group i'd love to hear from you tell me what your thoughts are because it really kind of has taken me aback a little bit um but i am open I'm wanting to learn I'm wanting to do what's best for my students and at this point I am doing some whole group and I'm doing some small group but I am right now kind of tweaking around with a little bit of a whole group thought process to see because I'm open. I don't want to be left behind. I don't want what the latest research is saying is best for my kids. I don't want my kids to be left out. I want to make sure that they are progressing and that's my prayer and as a teacher if you're listening to this you probably also I pray for my students I pray I write about them in my journal I pray that God would bless them and that God would help them to grow I do pray for the words that come out of my mouth when I'm teaching I pray that God will lead me and guide me in exactly the things I need to say to them the silliness I need to

18:06 say to them to get their attention or the games I need to play to get their attention to learn and so I do pray about that and I I don't want to be close -minded and I want God to use me in teaching. He's called me to teach and I want him to direct my thoughts. Psalms 32 and 8 said guide says the Lord says I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you and I pray that for my students. Lord guide me and the teacher listening along the best pathway for our education. for our students, for academics. It says, I will advise you and watch over you. God advise us and watch over us to help our students in the best way possible. So thank you so much for listening.

19:02 Don't forget to follow the show and leave a review if you found this helpful. It really helps other educators to find me. So until next time, stay inspired. Keep growing and remember you make a difference every single day in the little lives that you touch. Have a great week.