First Days of School - Cooperative Learning & Conclusion

The last chapter on lesson mastery deals with cooperative learning.  We will look at different ways to do cooperative learning in the classroom and then wrap up our First Days of School series.

"Cooperative learning is not so much learning to cooperate as it is cooperating to learn"

Cooperative Learning
Cooperative learning refers to a set of instructional techniques whereby students work in small, mixed-ability learning groups (Wong, 245).  Breaking into groups can be a tough task for some classrooms, whereas in others it is a simple task.  The question then becomes, why is this so?  The answer may be as simple as looking back a couple weeks at teaching your students procedures and routines.  Have you practiced getting into groups the correct way?  Do your students know your expectations for getting into groups?

Clear Expectations
Having clear directions and expectations for getting into groups is very important.  Students need to know how many people will be in a group and how many groups there will be.  Also point out from the start, how long each group will be meeting.  Is it for the complete class period?  Will it be longer?

Having clear expectations from the beginning clears up questions such as: How many people should we have?  Can I change groups?  How long are we in groups?

Placing Students in Groups
According to Harry Wong, "cooperative groups should be heterogeneous in terms of ability, sex, ethnicity, and other personal characteristics" (Wong, 251).  Wong goes on to say, "It is only from working with a diversity of people that students will learn the skills needed in a world of diversity.  These skills are learned when students are grouped heterogeneously." (Wong 252)

As you place students into groups, the number of students per group should be dependent upon how many jobs there are within the group.  This will alleviate the issue of one or two students not doing anything in the group.  The reason they do not do anything is because there are too many kids and not enough jobs.

**Tip - Create job description cards and laminate to be used within group work.**

Benefits to Cooperative Learning

"Most of the research indicates that cooperative learning leads to higher achievement for all students."

What some of the research says:

• Positive affects for both high and low ability students.
• Use higher-quality reasoning strategies, higher-level processing, and deeper thinking than isolated students.
• Develop skills of leadership, communication, decision making, and conflict management (21st Century Skills).
• Relationship building within groups.
• Teaches interdependence.
• Improves self-confidence.

How to Make Cooperative Learning Work

There are 4 elements that are needed to make cooperative learning work.

1. Positive Interdependence
2. Social Skills
3. Individual Accountability
4. Group Evaluation

Positive Interdependence

• Students really have to believe they are part of a group and they must believe they are in it together for a purpose.

Social Skills

• The skills of cooperative learning need to be taught.  These skills include: leadership, communication, trustfulness, and conflict resolution.

Individual Accountability

• Each member of the group is held accountable for the performance of all.  The teacher can stress accountability by being able to randomly call on any member of the group to present findings at any time.  This ensures that all members are actively participating.

Group Evaluation

• Periodically, the groups must assess how well they are working together and how they could do better.

Conclusion

Harry Wong's First Days of School book is a must read for every teacher!  If you haven't picked it up recently, make it a point to read it over the summer.  If you need a copy, you may check one from the MRVED library, or ask a friend ;)

The past 2 months we have spent time looking at what characteristics make for an effective teacher.  We broke it down into three areas:

• Has positive expectations for student success.
• Is an extremely good classroom manager.
• Knows how to design lessons for student mastery.

Hopefully you have gained something from going through part of the book.  Obviously there is so much more in the book!  Wong provides tons of examples throughout the whole book and is worth the read.  He has recently published a new book called The Classroom Management Book.  His new book will definitely be on my reading list for this summer.