1) I like the students to work in groups, but I know for a fact I do not agree with students should practice cooperative learning by working in pairs 50 percent of their day to ensure success. I feel if we are going to meet the needs of all learners there has to be variety of teaching methods. One of the factors that determine a group’s diversity is their reading level. All through elementary school students are taught to read. At the middle school we teach how to read to learn. At this level the students are not willing to work with everyone and it really boils down to grades for many. In many groups you have the doers who will do everything because they care about the grade. In return you have the waiters who know this and take a back seat, or will just wait and copy. The instruction to learn from content is not a group lesson every single day. Also, as I said before we are not as flexible with block time to even allow for groups to work together daily.
2&3) Cooperative learning does have its advantages. When I pick groups or allow the students to pick their own groups, I am usually thinking of the end project. In sixth grade they love to work with their friends. It is such a safe group and it is then that I try to get them to grow by taking risks, not just completing the task to be done and then fool around. I have never spent the amount of time creating families that work together through out the year as the chapter suggested. Depending on the content either Social Studies or Science I change groups based on the students’ strengths and weakness. I also need to change the leaders and the students with really strong or weak personalities. I am wiling to try in Science to keep the same lab group for an entire unit verse a chapter.
I have read your comments so far and will give you some of my ideas that may reinforce or cause you to to do some more research and take risks as you continue to enhance your craft. I certainly believe that our schools need to be safe. I also know that if someone wants to come into our schools to inflict damage there is not alot that can stop them. I again believe we should take every precaution to keep children safe but sometimes common sense should prevail. I had this conversation just yesterday with a resident of Weston where they had the horrific shooting of a principal this fall. They are getting a great amount of money to create a "safe" school. My sense if that something like what occured last fall probably won't ever happen again there. I guess my bottom line is that if it doesn't hamper the education of kids then it's ok. I think that the place we should concentrate keeping safe is the classroom. The more I am in this business the more I think that building positive relationships with ALL KIDS is the most important quality a teacher must possess. I don't care how much content you know if you don't show me you care about me I won't give my best effort. Kristin mentioned tests and the crazy overemphesis on them...but good news...if you teach kids using all the multiple intelligences and create critical thinkers the research indicates that kids will do as well and most better on tests. I recently was working with a teacher who was lamenting the test issue and knowing she was a solid teacher with an outstanding reputation I suggested to her that she teach the way she knows she should for a couple years and do her own action research to see how the kids do...I have been a principal where we endorsed multiaged classrooms and also allowed looping...in both cases the teachers loved it for the reasons mentioned by you...they really knew the kids and didn't have to start all over in the fall as well as knowing their learning styles and the strengths and areas of concerns with their multiple intelligences...they developed great relationships with their students... i want to hear more about the anti coloring book...it sounds fascinating...you hear me mention multiple intelligences ofter... I am a firm believer that teachers should give a survey of MI early in the year so they know the composition of their class...If you have 80% bodily/kinesthetic kids and you give them all reading and writing assignments you are going to have your hands full...besides the research again tells us that if we teach any concept to kids in their strong intelligence they can learn it...but most schools rely on the same old verbal/linguistic approach and there are usually only 20% of the kids in classrooms that are V/L...consequently when you do give kids a chance to demonstrate what they have learned in their way you will know whether they have really learned it...Do kids have to know how to read and write? absolutely but we can teach them using techniques that will allow them to succeed...You can also put kids into cooperative groups according to MI and creat assignments that need art, role playing, reading math etc...Too often I see teachers claiming to use cooperative learning when they really create groups where all students aren't required to take an active part in the activity and they get mad cause only the A students do all the work...well that is not a cooperative group and it will create just what I described...True cooperative group learning has withstood the last 40 years of research to prove that it works well for ALL kids...when it is done correctly...I will try to send out a packet on MI to you both next week and if you want a good book go to Thomas Armstrong's book MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES IN THE CLASSROOM...OK ...time to get off the soapbox for a couple days...please respond if you see the need to...by the way I am not a consultant that is way removed from the classroom...I am teaching two history classes of history, teaching teachers in a Masters program, and an AODA class that kids that go through the court system have to take...All my classes including the Masters program are hands on ...no lectures, just projects and group works...and it causes great learning...till next time have a great week of facilitating learning...barney
Hi ..i just noticed that to get to chapter 5 you have to click on chap 5 on the list of all chapters on the right sid of the blog...I don't know what happened to it...any problems let me know...barney
1) I definitely learned something new in this chapter. I did not realize that for students to be successful with cooperative learning that they should be in groups at least 50% of their day. WOW! I had no idea the percentage was that high. I have not seen this happen in any of the schools I have worked in over the years, nor did I ever experience this when I was in school. From a personal perspective, I have watched my stepdaughter, who is now in 8th grade, severely suffer anytime she is placed in a group. She has a lot of difficulties with communication and accepting other students’ ideas or opinions. She eventually stops communicating, takes on the whole project herself and complains the entire time. I think this is due to the fact that in elementary school she never had any group activities/ projects and does not participate in any sort of team sport. It is such a huge area of weakness that my husband and I often wonder how she will ever get through high school, college or the working world. I guess I never thought about it in the way this chapter describes, but it totally makes sense! It makes me sad to think that this disservice was the result of lack of exposure to something that can so easily be incorporated into the classroom.
2/3) I can say that this is an area that I do on a regular basis. Being an occupational therapist I see children in groups everyday. Last year I started an at risk group for children, in regular education, that struggle with handwriting skills. I will say after the first few weeks of meeting this year I had to adjust my groups due to personality conflicts/ relationships. I had originally done it by class and what times worked for teachers but certain groups were uncontrollable. With a little redistribution, my groups are running much more smoothly these days. This is something I will keep in mind when I create groups again next year!
4 comments:
1) I like the students to work in groups, but I know for a fact I do not agree with students should practice cooperative learning by working in pairs 50 percent of their day to ensure success. I feel if we are going to meet the needs of all learners there has to be variety of teaching methods. One of the factors that determine a group’s diversity is their reading level. All through elementary school students are taught to read. At the middle school we teach how to read to learn. At this level the students are not willing to work with everyone and it really boils down to grades for many. In many groups you have the doers who will do everything because they care about the grade. In return you have the waiters who know this and take a back seat, or will just wait and copy. The instruction to learn from content is not a group lesson every single day. Also, as I said before we are not as flexible with block time to even allow for groups to work together daily.
2&3) Cooperative learning does have its advantages. When I pick groups or allow the students to pick their own groups, I am usually thinking of the end project. In sixth grade they love to work with their friends. It is such a safe group and it is then that I try to get them to grow by taking risks, not just completing the task to be done and then fool around. I have never spent the amount of time creating families that work together through out the year as the chapter suggested. Depending on the content either Social Studies or Science I change groups based on the students’ strengths and weakness. I also need to change the leaders and the students with really strong or weak personalities. I am wiling to try in Science to keep the same lab group for an entire unit verse a chapter.
I have read your comments so far and will give you some of my ideas that may reinforce or cause you to to do some more research and take risks as you continue to enhance your craft. I certainly believe that our schools need to be safe. I also know that if someone wants to come into our schools to inflict damage there is not alot that can stop them. I again believe we should take every precaution to keep children safe but sometimes common sense should prevail. I had this conversation just yesterday with a resident of Weston where they had the horrific shooting of a principal this fall. They are getting a great amount of money to create a "safe" school. My sense if that something like what occured last fall probably won't ever happen again there. I guess my bottom line is that if it doesn't hamper the education of kids then it's ok. I think that the place we should concentrate keeping safe is the classroom. The more I am in this business the more I think that building positive relationships with ALL KIDS is the most important quality a teacher must possess. I don't care how much content you know if you don't show me you care about me I won't give my best effort. Kristin mentioned tests and the crazy overemphesis on them...but good news...if you teach kids using all the multiple intelligences and create critical thinkers the research indicates that kids will do as well and most better on tests. I recently was working with a teacher who was lamenting the test issue and knowing she was a solid teacher with an outstanding reputation I suggested to her that she teach the way she knows she should for a couple years and do her own action research to see how the kids do...I have been a principal where we endorsed multiaged classrooms and also allowed looping...in both cases the teachers loved it for the reasons mentioned by you...they really knew the kids and didn't have to start all over in the fall as well as knowing their learning styles and the strengths and areas of concerns with their multiple intelligences...they developed great relationships with their students... i want to hear more about the anti coloring book...it sounds fascinating...you hear me mention multiple intelligences ofter... I am a firm believer that teachers should give a survey of MI early in the year so they know the composition of their class...If you have 80% bodily/kinesthetic kids and you give them all reading and writing assignments you are going to have your hands full...besides the research again tells us that if we teach any concept to kids in their strong intelligence they can learn it...but most schools rely on the same old verbal/linguistic approach and there are usually only 20% of the kids in classrooms that are V/L...consequently when you do give kids a chance to demonstrate what they have learned in their way you will know whether they have really learned it...Do kids have to know how to read and write? absolutely but we can teach them using techniques that will allow them to succeed...You can also put kids into cooperative groups according to MI and creat assignments that need art, role playing, reading math etc...Too often I see teachers claiming to use cooperative learning when they really create groups where all students aren't required to take an active part in the activity and they get mad cause only the A students do all the work...well that is not a cooperative group and it will create just what I described...True cooperative group learning has withstood the last 40 years of research to prove that it works well for ALL kids...when it is done correctly...I will try to send out a packet on MI to you both next week and if you want a good book go to Thomas Armstrong's book MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES IN THE CLASSROOM...OK ...time to get off the soapbox for a couple days...please respond if you see the need to...by the way I am not a consultant that is way removed from the classroom...I am teaching two history classes of history, teaching teachers in a Masters program, and an AODA class that kids that go through the court system have to take...All my classes including the Masters program are hands on ...no lectures, just projects and group works...and it causes great learning...till next time have a great week of facilitating learning...barney
Hi ..i just noticed that to get to chapter 5 you have to click on chap 5 on the list of all chapters on the right sid of the blog...I don't know what happened to it...any problems let me know...barney
1) I definitely learned something new in this chapter. I did not realize that for students to be successful with cooperative learning that they should be in groups at least 50% of their day. WOW! I had no idea the percentage was that high. I have not seen this happen in any of the schools I have worked in over the years, nor did I ever experience this when I was in school. From a personal perspective, I have watched my stepdaughter, who is now in 8th grade, severely suffer anytime she is placed in a group. She has a lot of difficulties with communication and accepting other students’ ideas or opinions. She eventually stops communicating, takes on the whole project herself and complains the entire time. I think this is due to the fact that in elementary school she never had any group activities/ projects and does not participate in any sort of team sport. It is such a huge area of weakness that my husband and I often wonder how she will ever get through high school, college or the working world. I guess I never thought about it in the way this chapter describes, but it totally makes sense! It makes me sad to think that this disservice was the result of lack of exposure to something that can so easily be incorporated into the classroom.
2/3) I can say that this is an area that I do on a regular basis. Being an occupational therapist I see children in groups everyday. Last year I started an at risk group for children, in regular education, that struggle with handwriting skills. I will say after the first few weeks of meeting this year I had to adjust my groups due to personality conflicts/ relationships. I had originally done it by class and what times worked for teachers but certain groups were uncontrollable. With a little redistribution, my groups are running much more smoothly these days. This is something I will keep in mind when I create groups again next year!
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