Iourna| 1 aper d|screpanc|es and how to dea| w|th var|ed |earn|ng ab|||t|es |n a c|assroom

AL Lhls polnL ln Lhe semesLer sLudenLs' lndlvldual ablllLy levels have become clear Lhere ls a
large gap beLween Lhe handful of sLudenLs who geL lL" and Lhe few LhaL ln all honesLy have llLLle hope
of succeedlng as LLA Leachers for adolescenLs 1he ma[orlLy of Lhe class resLs somewhere lnbeLween
Lhese exLremes l Lry Lo remlnd myself LhaL for many of Lhese sLudenLs Lhls course ls Lhe flrsL Llme Lhey
have been asked Lo Lhlnk abouL pedagogy and educaLlonal lmpllcaLlonsLhere ls sLlll plenLy of Llme for
Lhem Lo close Lhe gap and become quallfled perspecLlve Leachers Powever Lhere ls one area ln whlch
Lhe lack of ablllLy lsn'L as easlly overlookedwrlLlng As fuLure Leachers of Lhe language arLs lncludlng
wrlLlng Lhe sLudenLs should be more Lhan compeLenL ln composlLlon buL Lhls ls noL Lhe case 1he
dlscrepancy ln composlLlon quallLy among Lhe class ls someLlmes frlghLenlng Lo me
1hls week Lwo sLudenLs emalled me Lhelr papers SLudenL A ls a sLudenL who geLs lL" She ls
usually quleL durlng class buL she conLrlbuLes conslsLenLly and her conLrlbuLlons are always lnslghLful
SLudenL 8 on Lhe oLher hand ofLen exhlblLs frusLraLlon or seems dlsengaged durlng class l cannoL recall
a Llme when she spoke up durlng class and l LhoughL yes!" More lmporLanLly SLudenL A ls a sLrong
wrlLer whlle SLudenL 8 sLruggles 8eadlng Lhelr essays one afLer Lhe oLher [usL hlghllghLed Lhls
dlfference
Whlle readlng SLudenL A's essay l could lnsLanLly Lell LhaL she dldn'L spend hours and hours
worklng on lL lL read llke a rough drafL She had a sLrong lnLroducLlon buL her Lhesls came aL Lhe end of
her paper ln Lhe concluslon 1here were some mlsslng LranslLlons and some senLencelevel correcLlons
needed buL overall her paper showed her wrlLlng skllls as well as her quallLy of reflecLlon and crlLlcal
Lhlnklng SLudenL 8's paper on Lhe oLher hand lacked any flnesse or deep Lhlnklng Cn Lhe flrsL page
alone l had added LhlrLeen commenLs more Lhan l needed ln SLudenL A's enLlre paper SLudenL 8's
paper lacked unlLy a clear Lhesls and was mlsslng many of Lhe elemenLs of Lhe asslgnmenL Cbvlously lf
she emalled lL Lo me she was Lrylng Lo succeed buL she lacks Lhe necessary composlLlon skllls and rarely
Iourna| 1 aper d|screpanc|es and how to dea| w|th var|ed |earn|ng ab|||t|es |n a c|assroom


exhlblLs Lhe hlgherorderLhlnklng requlred of a Leacher AL a more fundamenLal level SLudenL 8
sLruggles wlLh Lhe slmple acL of wrlLlng her senLences were grammaLlcally lncorrecL passlve and
wlLhouL any experLlse lL worrles me Lo Lhlnk LhaL a person ln Lhelr second year of college can sLlll
sLruggle wlLh such a fundamenLal sklll buL even more Lhan LhaL lL worrles me LhaL someone wlLhouL
any lnnaLe wrlLlng ablllLy could posslbly be responslble for Leachlng mlddle and hlgh school sLudenLs'
composlLlon
1he facL LhaL l read SLudenL 8 and SLudenL A's papers slde by slde was serendlplLous Lhey boLh
happened Lo send Lhelr essays around Lhe same Llme Powever lL hlghllghLed a slgnlflcanL lssue for me
how does a Leacher deal wlLh a varleLy of learnlng ablllLles ln a classroom? We can learn all abouL
dlfferenLlaLed lnsLrucLlon and varled learnlng buL ln Lhe end lL lsn'L as slmple lf Lhere ls one Lhlng LhaL
belng a Leachlng asslsLanL has LaughL me Lhls semesLer lL's LhaL ln pracLlce Lheory only Lakes you so far l
don'L have Lhe answer Lo Lhls quesLlon rlghL now buL l hope LhaL Llme and pracLlce wlll Leach me how Lo
handle all Lhe curveballs of Leachlng