Wisdom of the (Multi) Ages: Students Learn by Teaching

The kindergartners tend to ramble and mumble. The second graders are more concise. Each student mentions something they are grateful for as they pass a heart-shaped rock, warmed by many little hands, around the circle in a multiage class at Pine Crest School, in Sebastopol, California.

Near the end of the circle, as the students are starting to fidget, a smallish kindergartner named Aidan begins to regale the group with his video game conquests. The tall second grader seated next to him, Everest, stage-whispers in his ear, "Don't tell a long story. Just do your appreciation, or it will take too much time." Aidan wraps it up quickly.

This is the essence of the multiage classroom: Older students model good behavior and, through continual peer mentoring, stretch their teaching muscles and solidify their own knowledge. And the younger students learn that teachers aren't the only ones who know a thing or two. "I haven't had a student yet who, even six years later, didn't remember whom they helped and who helped them," says teacher Terence Rodgers about the mentoring process. "Really, it's pretty magical."

Strategic Learning:

Seven-year-old Trenton is paired up with six-year-old Izzy for a strategy game in a K-2 multiage classroom.

Credit: Molly Jackel

A Class That's Like a Family

The multiage classroom (the system is also called looping) contains students of different ages and grade levels who stay with the same teacher for several years. In the case of Pine Crest, the classes are K-2 and 3-5. The students learn predominantly in small, heterogeneous groups, and parents often come to class to help lead them. The system provides teachers with a three-year span to get to know their students' strengths and weaknesses and to support the individual growth of each student. Over the years, the class develops into something like a family.

Although the multiage classroom is a rarity in the United States (and getting rarer still as high-stakes testing has taken hold) and requires a special kind of teacher, it offers many lessons adaptable to the traditional classroom -- in particular, student-to-student mentoring.

A landmark study published in June 2007 revealed that older siblings have higher IQ scores than their younger siblings. The cause is not biological, but a result of the interplay between parents and children and the children themselves. In a New York Times article, Robert Zajonc, a psychologist at Stanford University, said he believes the tutoring older siblings give to their younger brothers and sisters has a positive impact on the intelligence of the older children.

"Explaining something to a younger sibling solidifies your knowledge and allows you to grow more extensively," he added. "The younger one is asking questions and challenging meanings and explanations, and that will contribute to the intellectual maturity of the older one."

Game Point:

Ophelia, age five, plays a strategy game with seven-year-old Ruby Maya as eight-year-old Aidan steps in to help.

Credit: Molly Jackel

How to Create a Student-Mentoring Environment

Russell Yates, educational-programming director at the Swan School, in Port Townsend, Washington, and multiage teacher for grades 3-4, offers the following guidelines on how to get students to mentor each other successfully in your class:

• Teach students that helping others learn does not mean just giving them the answer. Facilitate good tutoring by modeling effective methods and allowing students to practice them.
• All students, not just those the teacher views as capable or who have high test scores, should have the opportunity to be a peer mentor.
• Consider buddying up your class with another, probably younger, single-grade class for peer mentoring.
• Small-group peer mentoring can take on the form of a jigsaw puzzle, in which the teacher gives an assignment with multiple parts, and each student in the group learns a part and then teaches it to the other students.
• In small-group learning, employ the three-before-me rule: Students must check with three classmates before raising a hand to ask for help from the teacher. This approach gives every student the chance to help instruct.
• Small-group learning can get loud. To keep the noise level reasonable, check out these tips from Multiage-Education.com on helping young students learn to control their voices. Also, print out and post the site's noise-meter poster -- a visual reminder about appropriate voice levels -- or create your own version.
• Peer mentoring should be frequent enough to develop routines but not so often that students lose enthusiasm for it. Once a week is a good start.
• Use peer mentoring as a chance to support the development of leadership skills among all students. A student who struggles with reading and writing but excels in art could probably benefit from a self-confidence boost. On an art project, pair this student up with a peer who excels in the core subjects.
• By creating a situation that benefits all students, you'll make the mentoring experience genuine. When pairing students, think about their strengths and weaknesses and be sure the exercise will benefit both parties.
• Simply having students read to one another isn't as powerful as having them teach each other a discrete skill.

Anda, one of Yates's students, comments on her mentoring experience: "When I am helping other people, I start by showing them how I did it. I do what Russ does. I ask them a question about a part of the problem. They tell me the answer, and I write it down for them on the first and maybe the second section of the problem. Then, they do it all for themselves. If they don't get it, Russ takes over."

Molly Jackel is a freelance writer and editor. She lives in Sebastopol, California.

年级融合的智慧：学生通过教学获得教育

加州塞瓦斯托波尔的拍克雷斯他特学校，让幼儿园和高两届的学生围成一个圈，让他们都说说当他们穿越被很多小手温软的心型岩石时心里的感激之情。结果表明幼儿圆的孩子诉说倾向于漫谈和叽叽咕咕，而高年级的学生则更加简洁明了。

当快到圈子最后，学生们开始焦躁不安，一个名叫Adian幼儿园的小孩开始和组员分享他在视频游戏中的战利品，旁边一个高年级的同学Everest，对他高声耳语道，“别说冗长的故事了，说说你自己的感受，否则就占用太多时间了”，Aidan迅速把主题收回在这件事情上。

这就是多年级课堂的特点：高年级是低年级的榜样，持续的指导同辈，高年级学生传授知识的能力得到加强，所学的知识得到巩固，低年级学生学到的是不止一个老师明白事理。“我从没有发现哪个学生不记得他们所帮助的人和帮助他们的人，即使这个学生毕业六年”。Terence Rodgers谈到这种指导方式时说，“真的，太不可思议了。”

学习方法：

在一到两岁年龄层差异的教室，7岁的Trenton和6岁的Izzy分成一组玩策略游戏。

课堂，就像一个大家庭

混合年纪的教室（这个系统也被称作“循环”）里包含不同年纪和年级的学生，他们将和同样的老师一起度过几年的学习生活。以Pine Crest为例，班级为一到两岁差异或3到5岁差异。学习过程中，学生需要领导更小的小孩，而且家长会经常来课堂上引导他们。该系统中，老师跟随班级三年，来挖掘学生的优点和缺点，并且针对每个学生制定培训计划。几年之后，课堂就会像个大家庭。

尽管现在混合年纪的课堂在美国还很少，而且对教师的也有特殊的要求，但它提供了很多适合传统课堂的课程，尤其是，同学和同学之间相互指导。

2007年六月发表学习研究报告中指出，兄弟姐妹中年龄大的比年级小IQ要高。原因不是生物学方面的，而是父母和兄弟姐妹们以及兄弟姐妹们之间相互影响的结果。斯坦福大学的心理学家Robert Zajonc在时代周刊中指出，兄长要监护，教育年幼的弟弟、妹妹会对他们自己的智力参数正面的影响。

“向年幼的弟弟妹妹讲解有助于巩固自己的知识并且使你的视野更开阔”，他补充说，“弟弟妹妹不断提问并且质疑你的解释，这也有助于你心智成熟。”

 游戏要点：

5岁的Ophelia和7岁的Ruby在完策略游戏，而8岁的Maya在一步一步进行指导。

如何创建学生指导学生的环境

拉塞尔叶茨是华盛顿汤森德港思弯学校的教学规划主任， 3-4年纪的混年龄层老师提供以下方法来使得学生在班级里成功的指导其他的学生。

·     让学生知道，教低年级的同学不意味直接告诉他们答案。通过建立有效地指导模型来推动指导并允许学生自行练习。

·      所有的学生都应该有机会成为同辈的指导老师，而不仅仅是那些高分的学生。

·      考虑到你的班级和其他班级汇集，或许是低年级，或是单独年级的同辈指导。

·     小组内部相互指导将会呈现七巧板的形式，老师将作业分成多个部分，组内每个学生学习一部分然后教其他同学。

·     小组学习，采取“我前有三”的原则：学生在举手向老师询问之间必须已经和三个同班同学核对。这种方法给了每个同学帮忙教导的机会。

·     小组学习会很吵。为了将声音降低到能够接受的程度，登录Multiage-Education.com学习如何帮助年幼的学生控制自己的声音。将它们打印出来粘贴在噪音级表栏里，通过可视化的提醒来降低声音或拥有属于自己看法。

·     组内指导需要经常举行，但又不能过于频繁以至学生失去激情，一个星期一次是个好的开始。

·     采用组内指导作为一种支持所有学生发展领导才能的机会。一个不喜欢朗读和书写，但却在艺术方面很出色的学生，或许可以从自我信心推进中获益。在一个艺术课题上，将这些学生按优势核心主题来划分。

·     通过创建一个对所有学生都有益的场景，你可以创造学生的指导才能，当划分组的时候，考虑考虑学生们的优势和弱势，以确保所有的学生从分组中获益。

·     简单的让学生对这另一方朗读不如让他们教育对方不相关联的技能。

雅特的学生安达，在她的指导经历上写到。“当我帮助其他人，我通过展现给他们看我如何做，我照着拉丝做，我问他们其中一部分问题，他们告诉我答案。首先我写下第一或第二部分的答案，然后他们补全。如果他们不做，拉丝接着做。”

多年级指导：跨年级协作资源

要了解更多多年级教育和如何在你自己的课堂中应用它的原则和方法，请访问以下网站

• Mutliage-Education.com 由Russell Yates办的网站，全面介绍多年级课堂的知识，包括示例、可印刷图片、评价工具、链接等待。
• 如果你正在建立一个多年级课堂或者想实践其中的部分想法，可以访问Choosing Multiage，它提供了很多易用的场景，会帮助你解决你将面临的挑战。
• Ms. T. Inc.: Meaningful Strategies for Teachers 提供了可供下载的链接，你可在小学教室中使用。
• Teaching Math in the Multi-Age Classroom 为如何通过建立的课内小组提学习数学提供信息，并且提供了很多其他的数学网站的链接。

-- MJ