Reflect after reading Chapters 2-4:
How do we form collaborative groups and where will these groups work? Why does room arrangement matter?
Consider the following questions:
- What is resonating with you from the reading?
- What caused you to pause and think during this section?
Respond and Interact
After reading these chapters, please post your response to one {or more} of the prompts above. Read our colleagues' reflections. Feel free to respond to someone by sharing a comment, insight or interesting possibility.
I was shocked to read that a very significant majority of students entered teacher-selected partnerships thinking they were not going to make a significant contribution to their group or that they were planning to enter as the role of follower.
ReplyDeleteOur math leader suggested using animal cards for visible random groupings. This was very new learning for me, but I was willing to give it a try instead of pairing my students (high and middle, middle and low). I have enjoyed watching my first graders engagement each morning as they match up with their partner for the day and have noticed that they are (mostly engaged). It has been challenging for one of my very competitive students who likes to be in charge; however, it does present growth opportunities for him.
I stopped to think about how I can increase the number of vertical whiteboards. Our math lead uses these in her classroom and I am inspired. These alternate workspaces make work visible. I am looking forward to trying this out to increase accountability and learning.
The first time I read this book - defronting a classroom sounded completely crazy to someone who might be a little OCD {like maybe me 😂} But I like how Liljedahl pushes me to think. We can't expect different results if we always do the same thing. If we want a different/better outcome, then we have to change something. Now that I have seen so many teachers using the NPVSs, I think I could probably do it...even with my OCD.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of randomly grouping students has been a HUGE game changer for me. Talk about taking the pressure off... I've come up with so many fun ways to make groups. Some include, pulling sticks, spinning a wheel, using emoji picture cards, and having students fill out a "partner pal" sheet. Some days they are with their "Milk and Cookie" partner and other days their "burger and fries" partners, and so on.
ReplyDeleteChapter 3 spoke to me a great deal as well. I had dabbled with vertical writing surfaces but can now see more ways I could incorporate it.
One idea I'm heading into the new year with, it defronting my classroom. In a sense, I've already done some of this work. My desk is in a back corner of the room and student desks are grouped in tables all facing different directions. One idea I think I am going to try is moving most student supplies to their cubbies and emptying out the desks. I'd like to take all the name tags off the desks and encourage students to choose their own seats daily, providing more flexible and "thinking oriented" workspaces.
I love this idea of taking the name tags off the desks to allow random groups daily....a 5th grade teacher started doing this after reading this book and she never went back. It's working for her!
DeleteWow wow wow. These chapters have so many tags, highlights, & notes in my copy now! So many takeaways & so much learned from these 3 chapters, I LOVED it!
ReplyDeleteForming collaborative groups has been a huge focus of mine this year as teamwork is our PLC+ goal, so Chapter 2 immediately piqued my interest. So far I've found that random groupings have been the most successful - especially when the students can actually see the randomness in action. I usually just use the grouping function of ClassDojo, and that has treated me well so far, but I love all of the other ideas both in the book & comments here that I can add to my random group assignments... I'm also super glad what I've found to work best in my classroom is backed up with data! Woohoo! I found it really interesting that this chapter pointed out that the optimal group size for 5th grade would be 3 students. I've noticed that our math curriculum calls for a LOT of partner work, but not so many groups of 3. I've always wondered if it would be more beneficial to change many of the partner activities to groups of 3 since I would tend to see more success in these groups over partner work; and now I feel confident in making that decision as a slight change for the better.
I was super intrigued to read about the vertical whiteboard surfaces in chapter 3. I recently implemented a lot of individual whiteboard work throughout our math lessons and have seen a lot increased engagement while tasking students to use these over working in their notebooks; but I do think that adding these as a vertical group work element would be extremely beneficial. I don't have a lot of wall space in my classroom, so I've struggled to think about how I could make these work - but when we get back from break, this will be a priority of mine.
Chapter 4 was exactly what I needed to read just before returning from break. I've had the same E3 desk arrangement since the beginning of the year, and although I've changed the seating chart monthly, I do think the kids need a change. I wasn't sure about grouping the desks because of how incredibly social my class is - and for some reason, in my head, the only desk clump options were groups of 4. Seeing the layout of groups of 3, I think will be ideal for us, and I'm excited to transform my classroom toward defronting when I get back!