I think some people are meant to work in a group and others are not. My gifted students are a prime example of introverted students who lack social skills. Many of them are content working by themselves and become anxious when they have to interact with others. For the most part, I feel that people are drawn to work together; I think it is mostly due to the socialization aspect with middle school students. Most of the time, they feed off of interaction and acceptance from their peers. I tend to see that when students are unsure of how to work out a math problem they turn to a peer. Also, when students are completing a project they want positive reinforcement and help from other students. I my experience, students prefer to work together.
I agree that Wikipedia is essentially an online wealth of information; however, some of the information is not accurate. Anyone can post a response on a topic or definition. Regardless of the validity, the post says until someone disputes it. The uneducated person can simply put an opinion on what they think the definition or explanation of a topic is. I am not sold on Wikipedia. I use it occasionally, but I try to back it with credible sources.
I think technology can help people across the globe work together and interact. Students who are studying Egypt can go on a virtual field trip and explore the pyramids. From this exploration, they can formulate their own understanding of the pyramids. Also, students can have video chats with other classrooms that are on the other side of the country or the globe. The internet and technology that now comes with it broadens the horizons of our children.
http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/vlibrary.html
The virtual world of manipulatives is a great online tool for students to play with popular math manipulatives. As classrooms grow, teachers may not have the resources for students to each have pattern blocks, algebra tiles, or tan grams, but with the internet, students can have access to them at any time.
I responded to Kiana http://kobysmomsblog.blogspot.com/
and Ashley Bridges http://bridgesa.blogspot.com/2010/07/module-3-collaboration.html
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Hi Holley,
ReplyDeleteWhat is very intersting is that students in some classes are drawn together and work very well collaboratively. In others students are hesitant or when told to get in groups, have a difficult time staying on task without teacher prompting or redirecting. The obvious in these scenarios is the teacher and how they've built a sense of community, established guidelines and expectations of students when working together etc. In your class, how do you follow an established set of protocols and expectations in order to have students work effectively with each other?
I agree that not all people or all topics need to have a collaboration element. I have many students that would prefer to never interact with classmates, academically of course. They often ask "Do we have to have a partner?" How do we in the elementary school help to make collaboration an interesting and important learning tool?
ReplyDeleteI also have students who do not want to work together, but at the high school level it is often because they feel they lack basic reading skills. This year I experienced the other end of the spectrum with a IB (International Baccalaureate) student. They felt that they were smarter than the rest of the class and that they couldn't be "bothered" with working with the others, that it would be too easy and a waste of their time. I still insisted that they work in their group and by assigning different parts of the project to each student, I was able to have all students contribute on their level. The IB student also found out that there were other students who were just as "smart" as them, but they just weren't in the IB program. I liked your idea about having video chats with other people as a way to use technology for collaboration.
ReplyDeleteJadasi (Duane right?!)
ReplyDeleteI set the stage for group work in the beginning. My desks are set up in groups. For starters I have a group rewards system. Each group can earn points for various things like working quietly, working well together, all having homework, and so on. The loose points as well. This helps motivate them to work together. At the end of the Nine week period, I reward the group with the most points in each class; then I change the groups. Also, I give them specific tasks and the tasks change. All members of the group do not recieve the same grade. I take points off for group hogs (doing all the work) and group slackers. I am not fully sure how, but it works for my students!
Amanda,
ReplyDeleteIn middle school I have students behaving similar to your IB student, especially in my gifted class. It is hard to help students undestand we can work together and each contribute something to the groups. I try to put artistic/low math ability with the student who can only solve the problems. Many times they can use each other's strengths to help!