Leading Learning

Written By: Michael Small

You learn a lot about students when you pay attention to what they show you during instruction. Not the big assessments or the next universal screener, but the quick pieces of information that tell you what they understand right now. A warm up, an exit ticket, a student explanation you overhear while circulating. These small moments give you the clearest picture of what students actually know and what they still need.

Once you start treating those moments as real data, your instruction becomes more responsive. You stop waiting for a testing window to tell you something you already knew three lessons ago. That is where small group instruction becomes one of the strongest tools you have. It lets you act on what students show you in real time and adjust your teaching in a way that feels manageable, grounded, and aligned to what most modern curriculums already expect.

When you build small groups into your regular flow of teaching, you create a classroom where students get what they need sooner, not later. And that is where the real growth starts.

Start With the Data That Actually Matters

It’s easy to get stuck believing that “data” only lives in spreadsheets or dashboards. But the most powerful data is the kind you gather quickly and consistently.

Think about it in three buckets:

Look-Back Data: screeners, BOY assessments, i-Ready, last unit’s summative.
Right-Now Data: exit tickets, warm ups, quick checks, student work.
Look-Ahead Data: what the next standard or task is going to demand.

Right-Now Data is where the magic happens. It tells you exactly what students can do today and helps you decide what needs to happen tomorrow.

A Mini-Lesson Anchors the Learning

Most strong lessons start with a short, intentional teacher-led moment. It might be a quick model, a worked example, a think aloud, or clearing up a misconception that surfaced the day before.

This whole-group touchpoint sets students up for success and gives them an anchor before work time begins.

Once students transition into work time, this is where your small group instruction comes alive.

Small Groups Make Tier 1 Responsive

Small group instruction isn’t an intervention block. It’s a Tier 1 practice. It’s what you do when you want every student to move forward, not just the ones who need extra support.

During work time, you can:

• Pull students who shared a similar misconception on the warm up
• Support a group that needs more modeling or guided practice
• Offer extension or deeper thinking for students who are ready
• Provide quick feedback to students who need reassurance or clarity

You don’t need a complicated rotation system. You need a routine students recognize and a plan you can execute consistently.

Small groups are about being intentional, not fancy.

Teach to the Misconception, Not the Student

Labels don’t teach kids. Skills do.

Group students based on the misunderstanding, not their usual profile. You already know your students well at this point, but their needs shift day to day.

A student who mastered yesterday’s work might get stuck today. A student who normally struggles might take off when the content clicks. Group for the moment, not the label.

The goal is simple:
Fix the misunderstanding. Move the learning forward.

Keep the Small Group Tight and Purposeful

A small group is not a small whole-group lesson. The moves are different.

A high-impact small group includes:

• A quick model that makes the thinking visible
• Guided practice with immediate, honest feedback
• Space for students to verbalize their process
• A concrete next step students can use as soon as they return to their seat

Students should leave your table able to do something they couldn’t do ten minutes earlier.

Let Small Groups Strengthen Tomorrow’s Lesson

Your small groups tell you exactly what to do next in whole-group instruction. After each group, reflect on three things:

• What did students understand?
• What still needs work?
• What needs to show up in tomorrow’s warm up, do now, or mini-lesson?

This creates a continuous tightening loop in your instruction. Not more work. Smarter work.

Small group instruction becomes the daily adjustment that keeps gaps from becoming patterns.

Make the System Work for You

You don’t need another complicated routine to keep up with. You need a sustainable structure:

• Predictable work time so groups feel natural
• Simple tasks students can manage independently
• A clear small group table or meeting spot
• A way to track who you met with and why
• Routines that help students start without you

Small groups should give you energy back, not drain it.

Final Thought

When you respond to data quickly and thoughtfully, your instruction becomes more targeted, more efficient, and more meaningful. Small group instruction is one of the strongest tools you have for accelerating learning and honoring the different needs your students bring each day.

You don’t need perfection.
You need responsiveness.
You need intention.
You need learning that moves forward one decision at a time.

That’s what small group instruction makes possible.