{"id":1934,"date":"2021-09-13T10:39:36","date_gmt":"2021-09-13T17:39:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elementary.sd42.ca\/edithmcdermott\/?p=1934"},"modified":"2021-09-13T10:42:37","modified_gmt":"2021-09-13T17:42:37","slug":"combined-classes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/elementary.sd42.ca\/edithmcdermott\/combined-classes\/","title":{"rendered":"Combined Classes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><u><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1610 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/wordpress1.blob.core.windows.net\/edithmcdermott\/2021\/03\/cropped-Logo-248x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"248\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wordpress1.blob.core.windows.net\/edithmcdermott\/2021\/03\/cropped-Logo-248x300.png 248w, https:\/\/wordpress1.blob.core.windows.net\/edithmcdermott\/2021\/03\/cropped-Logo.png 760w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 248px) 100vw, 248px\" \/><\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Hi all.<\/p>\n<p>I find it worthwhile to republish this note that I sent out my first September here as I know there is still considerable misunderstanding about the structure of education especially around grade levels and combined classes. In a nutshell all students, individually, are met where they are on the developmental continuum and moved forward from there. The concept of &#8220;grade levels&#8221; is only an organizational tool to allow us to create groupings. Every student is met where they are!!<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Information &amp; Research on Combined (AKA SPLIT) Classes<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Each school year many of our students are placed into a combined class. Combined classes are a reality in every elementary school, and every child will be in both straight and combined classes during their elementary school years.\u00a0Some\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.psychologytoday.com\/basics\/parenting\">parents<\/a>\u00a0can be concerned about possible negative impacts of being in a combined \u2013 there is none. With this in mind, we have put together some information below about combined and straight grade classes to help families better understand:<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<strong>Research has shown there is no difference in academic achievement between children in split classes versus straight grade classes<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>A\u00a0single grade class is a multi-grade class as children are all at different stages of development.<\/strong>\u00a0Every child develops at his\/her own rate and pace.<\/li>\n<li>Three common misconceptions about combined classes.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>A combined class is comprised of the more capable students in the younger grade and students who struggle in the older grade.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><u>Truth<\/u>:\u00a0\u00a0<strong>Every class\u00a0<\/strong>is balanced both academically and socially whether it is a straight or combined grade class.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>If a child is in the older grade with younger students, they will not be challenged.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><u>Truth<\/u>:\u00a0\u00a0Teachers\u00a0use differentiated instruction to meet the needs of all the learners in both straight and combined classes.\u00a0\u00a0Instruction is customized to students\u2019 stages of devlopment.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>In a combined class, students will miss grade level curriculum.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><u>Truth<\/u>:\u00a0\u00a0A teacher in combined classroom is to be able to integrate different subject matters and bring students together to promote a one-class atmosphere.<\/p>\n<ol start=\"4\">\n<li>Sometimes, children may remain with a teacher for a second year. There are many benefits in continuing with the same teacher and in the same learning environment for more than one year.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li><em> \u00a0\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0The teacher knows the students abilities and is therefore able to \u00a0provide appropriate instruction.<\/li>\n<li>Students can continue a second year with familiar routines and expectations, which naturally leads to leadership skills.<\/li>\n<li>The child and teacher have built a relationship of trust over the \u00a0years.\u00a0\u00a0The student becomes extensively familiar with the learning environment and naturally begins to understand himself as a learner and \u00a0 a person.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ol start=\"5\">\n<li>Benefits for the students<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>The older students have\u00a0opportunities for leadership, mentoring and peer support.\u00a0\u00a0They learn\u00a0to be positive, mature role models for the younger students.<\/li>\n<li>The younger children gain self-<a href=\"https:\/\/www.psychologytoday.com\/basics\/confidence\">confidence<\/a>and maturity by being exposed to older students.<\/li>\n<li>There is greater peer-to-peer learning in blended classrooms.<\/li>\n<li>Students develop friendships across grade levels and instil a greater sense of responsibility for one another, and a better sense of community.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Learn more about how and why combined classes work in this video:\u00a0 https:\/\/youtu.be\/CqtQ_zUBPjI<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hi all. I find it worthwhile to republish this note that I sent out my first September here as I know there is still considerable misunderstanding about the structure of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-news","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/elementary.sd42.ca\/edithmcdermott\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/elementary.sd42.ca\/edithmcdermott\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/elementary.sd42.ca\/edithmcdermott\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elementary.sd42.ca\/edithmcdermott\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elementary.sd42.ca\/edithmcdermott\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1934"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/elementary.sd42.ca\/edithmcdermott\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1934\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1936,"href":"https:\/\/elementary.sd42.ca\/edithmcdermott\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1934\/revisions\/1936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/elementary.sd42.ca\/edithmcdermott\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elementary.sd42.ca\/edithmcdermott\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elementary.sd42.ca\/edithmcdermott\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}