Cooperative learning is NOT the same as group work. This was the biggest take-away from my workshop on cooperative learning. The guru for cooperative learning is Spencer Kagan, if you want more information you can Google him. My blog endeavor is already paying off because before I sat down to write this entry, I gathered all of my materials from the workshop and started reviewing them. I saved the presentation to my Google drive (mental note to blog about the amazing abilities of Google drive at a later date), and even pulled out the book we were given. All of this probably wouldn't have happened if not for writing this blog!
Well, I guess materials is a great place to start; here is the book from this workshop:
Kagan Cooperative Learning Structures, By Dr. Spencer Kagan
The book is labeled as a "mini book," which is kind of cute. It is a handy little resource with a selection of the cooperative learning structures that Kagan has developed. It also has background and rationale for using Cooperative Learning. I'm pretty sure it is promotional material because every page has the web address and phone number for Kagan Publishing company and it has no ISBN, so I don't know if you can actually get your hot little hands on it!
Now, onto the learning! A lot of the structures for cooperative learning I had already been exposed to. I will definitely highlight some of those for you, but the thing that I got the most out of this workshop was more theory-based. Besides the idea that just because you do group work doesn't mean you're doing cooperative learning, the workshop leader really provided a lot of insight as to how to develop citizenship and community with the students in your class. The best part for me was the techniques to focus on community building. Students should think of themselves as being a part of a social community (both in school and out). And within that community, everything they do has an impact. I copied this down from the presentation:
Everything you do has an impact, it either...
-helps or hurts
-builds up or tears down
-is good or bad
-is selfless or selfish
We are born selfish and it is something we have to unlearn. The presenter told us a cute story about parents' lives revolve around their infants. Of course we're selfish, we're born that way. But, we do have to figure out a way to start being selfless to be a valuable member of our communities. This idea of "having an impact" is something I want to address at the beginning of the school year, and come back to it to help re-direct negative behaviors. When students are not contributing positively to the social community, I can ask them to reflect "What is the impact of what you're doing?" then have them go through the list above and determine where they fall.
The question always arises "What to do with students that don't want to participate?" It will happen, of course. If the reflection and redirection I mentioned above doesn't work, a student may need to be removed from a group. But, they can participate from afar and eventually work their way back in. The presenter mentioned that most students want to be part of that community and will work to rejoin. He did have a student here and there that were very resistant to working with others, even with redirection and support. In that case, they are given individual duties and that's okay. He said his experience is that by the end of the year/semester, the student is much more willing to join the group. I would try to bring them back into the group in places when the interaction feels safe for them and has a low stake and minimal time commitment. And when they show a positive reaction to a particular activity, that is the time to attempt to include them.
Another theory he presented was the ides of PIES, as shown below.
These are essentially the principles of cooperative learning. All are required for true cooperative learning, and this is the reason that most "group work" teachers (myself included) assign is not true cooperative learning. These principles feed right into culturally responsive teaching in that it is a way to honor all voices. I have chosen culturally responsive teaching as my focus for my Professional Growth Plan this year, and I have already begun to seek out development on the techniques involved. In requiring participation in a safe, supportive environment, you are honoring all voices. When I first starting trying to improve in this area, I felt lost, but this is one simple thing you can do to take a step toward being culturally responsive. One of the basics techniques of culturally responsive teaching is giving this type of environment and creating a situation where students cannot opt-out.
Now, on to the structures! Here is a list of cooperative learning structures that were covered:
1. Popcorn
This technique is used during group reading. One person reads a section of text (either a couple of sentences, a paragraph, etc depending on the text). Then, they "popcorn" to another person in the group, who will read the next section. This is usually done by saying "popcorn" and the person's name. And reading continues in this manner. In another workshop a while ago, I learned a technique similar to this in which the next person would summarize the information instead of reading the next section. This was done in pairs back and forth, but to extend this to the popcorn idea, students could alternate between reading and summarizing. So let's say Sally read the passage. She could "popcorn" to Sam. Sam would summarize. Then Sam would "popcorn" to Spencer. Spencer would read the next passage. Spencer would popcorn to Steve, who would summarize, etc. That way, all students are actively listening to be prepared for the chance they may be chosen to be the summarizer.
2. Numbered Heads Together
I'm sure a lot of you have heard of this one, but did you know it is a culturally responsive teaching strategy? Students are numbered within a group. They then work together to develop an idea or answer. The teacher will call a number to be the spokesperson for each group. This is also a super easy alternative to drawing Popsicle sticks! One big thing that I have learned is not to put kids on the spot. Students need a chance to process information themselves and with their peers before they should be expected to produce an answer.
3. Think Pair Share Write
Another one you've no doubt heard of! The students think about a question, then share their answer with a peer, then share with the class. Finally, write your "final answer" after hearing from everyone. I always like the idea of sharing with others and then having the option to share an idea that is not your own. When I do this in class I make sure to say that they can share their idea or a really good idea they heard. Also, the writing part was new to me. This is a good informal bit of writing for the students to do, and it can be a formative assessment that you can use to check for understanding. Plus, any way you can incorporate more writing is always a plus with these new Common Core standards!
4. Quiz-Quiz-Trade
I encountered this in another workshop a couple of years ago. In this structure, each student has a flash card and they quiz each other and then trade. Then, students find another student and repeat. This is a great way to review vocabulary as you might imagine, but have you ever though it might also be a great way to acquire vocabulary? When I learned this technique, we were given cards with phobias on one side and their definition on the other. We were grouped by word. So, I was in a group with other teachers who had the same word as me and we were supposed to come up with a trick to remember the word. On the first "quiz" round, we found someone from another group, taught them the word and the trick. They did the same and we traded. By the end of the activity I had learned several words I had never learned before! I even remember one of the words even now! Barophobia is the fear of gravity. The group that had that word came up with the hint "When you come out of a bar, you are likely to fall" hence, fear of gravity! Another workshop used this technique to teach us Spanish words. To save yourself some work, do what I have done. Have students create their own flashcards. Do you have students write out their vocabulary anyway? Have them cut an index card into strips and write out the vocab definitions onto the strips. I usually collect them and pull out the best worded, most legible ones and use those for the class.
5. One-All
This is a technique for comparing and contrasting. There was a foldable demonstrated in which you fold a piece of paper twice hamburger (short edge) to get 4 equal sections and then unfold and fold up the bottom about a third of the way. The four sections are for four different things and all of the differences. The bottom is for the commonalities. This one I think would be tricky to use cooperatively, but he had us write one thing and pass it on, so we were all writing our ideas on each others' papers.
6. Storytelling
This presenter was big on storytelling (and really good at it). He told us a story and we were supposed to draw it in 4 pictures. Then we cut the pictures apart and put them in order, writing the numbers 1-4 on the back. Then we mixed them up and traded with a partner. We put them in what we thought was the correct order. Then, we checked and made sure they were right, re-ordering if they weren't. Then, he had us write some information on each one so that we knew what it represented. One thing I really liked about this was that the presented said "These are your cards someone made for you." I liked how that encouraged community within the group. I think I would use this potentially for processes that I need to teach. Possibly something like the cell cycle.
7. Rally-Robin
This one was a little confusing to me, but the idea is that you give a problem. One student completes the first step and passes it on to a partner, who completes the next step and passes it back to the first partner. They work back and forth to complete the problem. I have been introduced to this before with a set of problems that the students pass back and forth, which can work pretty well in some cases. One thing to make sure is that they have only one copy so that they have to pass it back and forth.
Cooperative learning involves a change in thinking on the part of the teacher. It is definitely a non-traditional way to do it. Look at the graphic below to see what I mean:
But, it is definitely worth doing! If you haven't heard about "Effect size" yet when it comes to teaching strategies, you probably will. It refers to how much effect a technique has on learning. Cooperative learning strategies tend to have an effect size of around 0.7 (0.5 is considered statistically significant). But aside from the data, I can speak from personal experience with the little bit I have integrated here and there, it makes for a much more productive classroom. It really helps a lot with classroom management too. I am definitely be going to work in more cooperative learning in my teaching this year. I am excited to use the social community ideas with my students as well!
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