Produ c tive Group Work

1. Productive Group Work WICR Cooperative Groups

2. Why Group Work? • Conversations are central to high-quality professional development. • Look at NSDC, Title II, or your state’s standards for professional development. The standards are laden with references to conversations; planned, collaboratively, continuous feedback, reflection, self-assessment, inquiry, and peer coaching. --Carol Corwell-Martin JSD, April 2010

3. How is group work relevant? • Moller and Pankake (2006) describe professional learning: “The real learning happens in the cycle of conversations, actions, evaluation, and new actions.”

4. Purpose • Reflect on your experience with group work • Understand four phases of releasing responsibility • Characteristics of productive group work • How do we trouble shoot problems • Making a plan for success

5. WICR—Reflect • Collaborative groups and cooperative learning refers to a variety of structured classroom management techniques and grading systems. • Definitions for this workshop: • Cooperative Groups—A group of participants that work together to complete a structured assignment • Collaborative Groups—A group of participants that work together to create a product based on appropriate resources found by the group to meet an assigned objective

6. Reflect on Your Experience • Think about a time when you worked in a group or when you had your students work in groups. • What would have make it a better experience for you and/or your students? • Quick Write for 3 minutes about this experience and be sure to list • What worked • What did not work • How it could have been better

7. One—One—Two Minute Partner Share • Move around the room at the direction of the facilitator • Pair up with the person closest to you at the end of the movement • Label yourselves A & B in your pair • A – Tells B about their Quick Write for 1 minute • B – Tells A about their Quick Write for 1 minute • A & B have a conversation about their Quick Writes of 2 minutes

8. Better Learning Through Structured TeachingBy NancyFrey and Douglas Fisher • The Gradual Release of Responsibility Model of Instruction (David Pearson) • 4 Phases of Gradual Release Model • Focused Lessons • Guided Instruction • Independent Learning • Collaborative Learning – Time when students work in groups to consolidate what they know from previous lessons and to gain valuable insights from each other Chunk this information

9. Productive Group Work: The Role of Collaboration in Learning • By Nancy Frey, Sandy Everlove and Douglas Fisher • Done properly, productive group work results in: • Increased self esteem • Improved relationships among students • Enhanced social and communication skills • Higher levels of academic learning and retention than peers working individually • We know it works! • The question is How and Why it fails? Chunk this information

10. Why do we resist working in groups? • Teachers & students rarely experience genuine collaborative learning • Usually “thrown” into a group with good intentions to produce a product, practice a skill, or complete a task • 1 or 2 students take over and do most of the work • Worker Bee’s feel put upon, taken advantage of, or shackled by group • Others feel inadequate, unable to keep up, or they have nothing valuable to contribute In successful cooperative groups, each member has a task with the teacher as a frequent monitor and “guide on the side” instead of the “sage on the stage.” Chunk this information

11. How do we know when Group Work is productive? • Knowledge is built and extended between the exchange of ideas • Task must require Individual Accountability • Level of difficulty so students can consolidate their understanding • Too Easy – Students will divide and conquer and reassemble to turn in • Should be hearing academic language and academic vocabulary • If the conversation is mostly about logistics then we’ve missed the mark

12. What if they fail? • Fear of failure keeps teachers in front of the classroom lecturing and in our comfort zone • Failure is underrated • Wrestling with the task causes students to rely on one another • Groups need a task that might result in failure • Learners who had tasks that were difficult (but not impossible) outperformed those where success was guaranteed • If success is guaranteed, it does not result in higher learning • We have Special K because Special A-J failed!

13. What to do if it doesn’t work? • Is the difficulty related to an one aspect? – Assist the group in reaching a decision • Is the task the problem? – More guided instruction • Model, Model, Model • Consider reconstituting the groups • Task cards or checklists of items that must be completed • Resist the urge to allow students to work alone Chunk this information

14. How do we ensure success? • Scaffold up to collaborative learning • Explicitly teach the skills of collaborative group work • Start small to build confidence & competence • Teach procedures and routines of how to interact to create products that represent their thinking • Teachers examine their own beliefs • Start small – Group work does not = long extended assignments • Teach – How to ask for, decline, offer, and accept help Chunk this information

15. Why and How are AVID Tutorials Collaborative? • Students are specifically taught the skill and they are reinforced in the process by trained tutors (We scaffold up to Collaborative Learning) • Students are gradually released from Focused Lessons to Guided Instruction to Collaborative • Students work in groups to consolidate what they know from previous lessons and to gain valuable insights from each other • Each group member has a task and Individual Accountability • Level of difficulty causes students to consolidate their understanding • Language is academic and not logistical • Difficult but not impossible and might result in failure • Success is not guaranteed • Students rely on one another Review your notes! Fill in gaps! Summary: List 2 ideas you gained! Write questions you still have!

16. Brain Storming • Using the experience of the table • Discuss and list the reasons why some group work is not successful. • Discuss and list reasons why some group work is successful. • Narrow the list of reasons why some group work is not successful down to the top reason for the table

17. Culture Analysis • Take a piece of chart paper and write that top inhibiter of successful group work on the top of it. • Brainstorm ways to eliminate or decrease the effect of that one inhibitor to make group work successful and productive by answering these questions: • What do we need to stop allowing? • What do we need to start allowing? • What do we need to continue allowing?

18. Gallery Walk • Each group will begin at their poster and have a short stack of Post It Notes and a pen. • Each group will move clockwise as directed by the facilitator. • At each piece of artwork, you will leave comments or questions to consider for the authors of the chart.

19. Let’s Reflect: Cube It • Roll a die. Share your ideas from today’s training based on the number you roll: • Describe it • Analyze it • Reinvent it • Apply it • Take a stand on it • Choose a different perspective

20. Thanks! www.avid.org