Teaching To The Middle: Answer Key

The real "answer key" is keeping the expectations high for everyone but providing different "ladders" to get there. Instead of giving struggling students easier work, give them more tools (graphic organizers, vocabulary banks) to reach the middle-to-high objective. 4. Flexible Grouping

For the advanced student, the answer key is a ceiling. They learn that the goal of school is not deep inquiry, but rather performing the routine of already knowing. They become bored, disengaged, and prone to checking out. For the struggling student, the answer key is a locked door. They see the gap between their current understanding and the "correct" answer, but the instruction has already moved past the scaffolding they needed to bridge that gap. They learn that their role in the classroom is to be invisible, or to copy answers to simulate learning. teaching to the middle answer key