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Sylwia Mlynarski
209065483
October 17, 2014
Evelyn Paris
EDUC2000
Collaborative Inquiry: Building Community in a Multi-level Classroom
On the first day of my student placement at St. Basils the Great College School, my
mentor teacher described the three English classes she had. She described her unusual third
period class, a Grade 9 applied English/ESL class, to which I simply thought, that must be
tough to teach. However, once I started observing the class and especially when I started
teaching, I began to realize how challenging this class must be. This class was two courses
combined, with students at a variety of levels. Aside from the Applied English students, the ESL
students also ranged in language levels (ESL Levels 1-3). Also, ESL students have a different
curriculum from the Grade 9 Applied English class, which makes planning more difficult.
I realized how challenging this class could be as soon as I started lesson planning for my
first lesson. I had no idea where to start. Before I begin discussing my pivotal moment and the
lesson that led up to it, I would like to explain the way my mentor teacher has set up the class.
When she explained the situation, I asked her how she dealt with this kind of classroom. I was
interested in knowing about her teaching strategies, her lesson formatting, and her community
building ideas. She structures the class by dividing it into two and teaching them separately. The
two classes sit separately, focus on different units and do different activities. For example, when
the Applied English students are looking at news reports, the ESL students are writing a story
book about themselves. So, at the beginning of class, my mentor teacher will present a brief
teaching point for example, the key elements of a news report and then assign independent
work for the rest of the class. Then, she will move to the ESL students and present a brief

teaching point for example, using the simple present tense and also assign them independent
work. Both my mentor teacher and I agree that this is a less than ideal way to teach. Because
they are learning two completely different lessons, there is no real community established in
class. The two sections cant help each other out, cannot work together in groups, and cannot
even have a group discussion where they share ideas and exchange information. Each half is
limited to their own group. Another challenge is that the variety of activities is limited because of
this lesson separation. Because the students are so divided, it is difficult to implement activities
that are not silent independent work and worksheets in fear of one half distracting the other half.
For example, if the teacher wants to do a kinesthetic activity with one half of the class, she needs
to ensure that the other half is also doing a kinesthetic activity and not a silent reading activity. I
have already found this to be a significant challenge to my lesson planning, which led to my
pivotal moment.
My mentor teacher and I decided that my first lesson was only to be directed toward the
ESL students, and would be about O Canada, as an introduction to the Canada unit. This
simplified the lesson for me instead of teaching Applied English class, I would focus on the
ESL class. However, this led to many more challenges about the lesson. I wanted the class to
become familiar with the lyrics of O Canada, and focus on developing their listening skills.
This would allow them to listen for specific information and to get the students to recognize
sound patterns. But, my question was, how could I incorporate this listening activity without
distracting this applied class. I thought that I would let them listen to the song on their phones,
with headphones. However, the problem was ensuring every student had a smartphone and
headphones. When I asked my mentor teacher about it, she suggested that I just play the song for
everyone at the beginning of class. I was ready to do that, until the Wi-Fi connection on my

computer failed. My mentor teacher suggested that we sing the O Canada. I asked an Applied
English student to sing it and the whole class participated, which led to the ESL students trying
to sing a long, as well! I thought that this was a great moment of community building and I really
felt a sense of togetherness with the class. The problem was that this moment distracted the
Applied English students from what they were learning. So, while it helped the ESL students and
built that community, it didnt help the applied students, at all. How could I achieve this sense of
togetherness, while having challenging both of the classes? The question that I had to ask myself
was, What kinds of teaching strategies do I use to develop a classroom community in a highly
challenging, multi-level and multi-needs classroom?
After bringing up this question with my fellow teacher candidates, I realized there was no
simple solution to this situation. They gave me ideas about what I could do with the class, but I
felt that it wouldnt be possible to do those ideas in my classroom because it is so divided. My
problem, ultimately, was that I was using my mentor teachers classroom model as the only
possible option, which was limiting me by not letting me think about the situation creatively. It
was only after sharing my situation with my Course Director, Evelyn Paris, did I get a broader
picture of the situation. Evelyn suggested that I implement differentiated learning into the
classroom. Instead of teaching two different topics, all of the students should be learning one
topic and then I should differentiate the activities and assignments, based on student levels. This
would ensure that all students were working on the same things and could help each other if
necessary. This would also ensure that I am treating the class as a whole unit, rather than two
separate entities.
I had seen this type of differentiated learning take place in one of my mentor teachers
classes. Both the ESL students and the applied students were to do an oral presentation. The

applied English students wrote about their first day of high school (or in Canada, if they could
remember) and the ESL students wrote about their first day in Canada. Each student presented to
the class. The requirements of the activity were different and I believe the students were assessed
differently (although, Im not entirely sure), however, this was a great moment of classroom
community. It felt like one class, rather than two. I thought that this type differentiated learning
was a great idea, but was skeptical because I knew that two different curriculums existed, which
I believed had to be followed. So, while a presentation every so often was fine, different topics
had to be taught. I conferred this with my mentor teacher and she agreed that two different
curriculums needed to be followed. Again, I felt trapped.
That is, until I started to look at both of the curriculum documents to get a general sense
of what each class should be learning. When I read the general and specific expectations, I
noticed there was a lot of overlap between the two courses. The reading, writing, listening,
speaking, and media skills for both classes were similar enough to create a unified course.
I am now thinking of teaching my class using differentiated instruction, but using the
same topic for both. During my block, I would like to see how this works. I do, however, have
some concerns. Because, the language levels are so different throughout class, how do I present
my teaching point so that it is clear and easy enough for my ESL students to understand, while at
the same time, being able to challenge my applied students. Can I have something like a whole
class discussion, if the language levels are so different? Or should I avoid such activities? If I
integrate the group, will my very low level ESL students and my very high achieving applied
students feel isolated? Can I build my ESL students vocabulary and grammar skills without
explicitly teaching vocabulary and grammar, which would be unnecessary to the applied English
students? I hope that through a process of trial and error, I am able to answer my critical question

and find the most effective teaching strategies. My ultimate goal is to get my whole class to love
what their learning, by providing engaging lessons and activities, and to appreciate the classroom
community and each other.