Providing feedback to students is crucial. Yet meeting with students individually is not always feasible for teachers. Microgrouping allows the teacher to form small groups of students who need similar feedback or to be given feedback in a similar manner. Micro groups are flexible to meet the needs of teacher and students.
Use formative data, benchmark data, or observation data to determine students who need similar feedback or need to receive feedback in a similar manner. Examples of such data might include exit tickets, written pieces, or unit exams among other things.
Once students are grouped, determine the focus for each specific group and the resources needed.
While other students are engaged in other learning activities, micro groups can meet.
Not all students are receptive to feedback in the same way. Breaking students into small groups allows you to tailor your feedback to different groups of students.
Implementation Steps:
Building on your understanding of your students learning styles, determine the manner in which your students will best receive feedback. Examples include: verbal, written, a combination, from a peer, annotated, (un)graded.
If there are small groups of students with similar needs, these students could, logically, make a strong micro group.
Micro Grouping allows the teacher to form small groups of students who need similar feedback or to be given feedback in a similar manner. Microgrouping is especially important during distance learning because it affords teachers opportunities to provide targeted small group support to students when they cannot see the students in person.
Implementation Steps:
Use formative data, benchmark data, or qualitative data to determine students who need similar feedback or need to receive feedback in a similar manner.
Once students are grouped, determine the focus for each specific group and the resources needed. During a microgroup session, you could use a whiteboard tool or googledoc to provide small group instruction or feedback.
Determine how you will host microgroup sessions.
If you can meet with students synchronously, invite selected students to a live video call at a designated time.
If you cannot meet with students synchronously, you could either:
develop a goodledoc in which students can post their work, their feedback to each other, and in which you can provide your feedback to students in the group.
Engage in an email exchange, backchannel discussion, or flipgrid video exchange with students to provide feedback to each other.
Provide an exit ticket at the end of the microgroup session in order to assess students' learning and gather feedback on the session. Also be sure to preview the focus of the next session before wrapping up.
Micrgroupings support students with disabilities by providing a structured opportunity to receive differentiated instruction.
Effective strategic groupings require teachers prepare for the significant executive functioning (task initiation, prioritization, working memory, etc.) skills, written expression skills, reading skills, and/or verbal skills required of students. In order to support students with disabilities who have difficulty in these areas consider the following modifications:
Modifications:
This strategy provides English learners with integral support in smaller group settings to support their individual learning and language needs.
English learners need to listen to and respond to teachers during conferences. Learners may need to use all four domains of language, reading, writing, speaking, and listening during group learning activities. In order to support English Learners consider the following modifications:
Modifications: