The varying needs in an NCEA classroom
As our school becomes more focused on catering to the individual needs of our students - such as 'Ready to Work' options for non-academic students (in line with Vocational Pathways ) and an endorsement programme for our high achievers - this is approach is also filtering into my classroom I'm noticing this in particular with my Year 12 and 13 classes. In my Year 12 class, for example, I have two international students whose English excludes them from success in a number of the standards the course offers. The solution is to provide some Level 1 unit standards for one student and ESOL support for the other. I have a student who is in the class but struggles, and in discussion with him, I have offered him an alternative course which is a mix of the achievement standards the rest of the class are doing, and some unit standards. This will enable him to have some success in English this year, so I'm chuffed, and he's chuffed. Then there is the rest of the class. I'...