Bell Ringer 10/25

 This prompt actually reminds me of a bit that was done by a standup comedian about how he didn’t know his daughter was in the “stupid class” → Bert Kreischer

While I do agree that this is commonly what happens, I do believe that this is not what should happen. Because of this grouping, kids are suddenly made aware of the fact that they are not as “smart” as their peers. However, I don’t necessarily think limits are being placed on student learning, or that they at least shouldn’t be. With that being said, I think that students often place internal limits on themselves with this new knowledge about their intelligence, and teachers and administration do not recognize this or help foster improvement. The mental health of students is not recognized as affecting their test scores. What we see of students is their concrete test scores, however, we do not know what lies within the contents of their mind, and how grouping affects them. I believe that students place limits on themselves because no one took the time to reassure them that being in a “lower ability” group has nothing to do with actual intelligence, but instead simply means that they require more help to understand content than other students.