Journey Summary
This session offers you a chance to reflect on the successes and challenges you have faced around cooperative learning. What changes would you like to implement in your classroom regarding your cooperative learning experiences? You will develop a personal learning focus, conduct research around the focus, and develop an implementation plan. The session will also allow you to examine your beliefs about group grades. The Norms of Collaboration© (from the Center for Adaptive Schools) are introduced as a way to help cooperative groups in the classroom function at a higher level.
Curriculum-framing Questions
Essential Question
- How can educators build a cooperative classroom?
Unit Questions
- In what ways does a teacher impact the community of a classroom?
Content Questions
- What are the Norms of Collaboration?
- What strategies can teachers employ to encourage the growth of community in their classrooms?
- How can teachers assess and evaluate cooperative-learning groups?
Introduction
eMINTS values cooperation as reflected in the focus on a Community of Learners in the eMINTS Instructional Model. While research shows collaboration can positively impact student achievement, building and sustaining a cooperative classroom takes practice and skill. During this session, we will reflect upon our cooperative learning practice and build upon our repertoire of classroom strategies.
Theory Behind Practice
All eMINTS materials are grounded in research-based best practices in K-12 education.
Digging Deeper
- Resources & Research (This session references the same Resources & Research as 106.)
Agenda
- Opener: It Takes 3
- Reflection Wall
- Developing Your Learning Focus
- Assessing Cooperative Learning
- Closer: Numbered Heads Share
Classroom Visit w/Students
Ask your facilitator to model a class-building, team-building or norm-setting activity with your students. You might also work together to introduce the Norms of Collaboration to your students.
Classroom Visit w/out Students
Review the implementation plan you developed during the session and discuss steps that have been taken to implement the plans. Have a coaching conversation to plan cooperative activities or to reflect on the implementation of cooperative activities. Ask your facilitator to observe and give feedback as your students work in cooperative groups.
Agenda
Before the Session
- My Cooperative Learning Reflection
- Developing Your Learning Focus
- Assessing Cooperative Learning – Part 1
During the Session
- Opener: It Takes 3
- Reflection Wall
- Learning Focus Reflection
- Assessing Cooperative Learning – Part 2
- Closer: Numbered Heads Share
Classroom Visit w/Students
Ask your facilitator to model a class-building, team-building or norm-setting activity with your students. You might also work together to introduce the Norms of Collaboration to your students.
Classroom Visit w/out Students
Review the implementation plan you developed during the session and discuss steps that have been taken to implement the plans. Have a coaching conversation to plan cooperative activities or to reflect on the implementation of cooperative activities. Ask your facilitator to observe and give feedback as your students work in cooperative groups.
This module is designed as a “flipped” learning experience. You will complete work both inside and outside of the face-to-face session providing you with the flexibility to learn on your own time and then bring your newfound knowledge to the training session. You can expect to spend about 105 minutes on activities to be completed before the session.
During the training session, you will use the information you covered prior to the session to complete hands-on/mind-on activities. After this session, you will use all of your knowledge to create an activity for your classroom that reflects constructivist principles.
Find out more about Flipped Classrooms and what it looks like in K-12 Classrooms.
Images Courtesy of