Having had the opportunity to assess children’s learning during PPL3, it is clear that there are certain strategies that best suits the needs of individuals. From studying lesson plans and evaluations, and from general observation it is clear that group work was often beneficial, and gave the children the chance to work with peers of different ability levels and different learning styles, so that they were able to develop and learn from their peers. Group work is great for getting children to work collaboratively, whether this is as a pair, or as a group of 6, or a group of 12, it takes them out of their comfort zones and to adapt to new situations. Using different strategies such as think-pair-share and mixed ability groups as well as self chosen groups can really determine the quality of children’s learning. I shall be looking into these strategies and reviewing my own teaching and how they were beneficial or detrimental towards a child’s education.
Group work revolves around one main point: communication, Lev Vygotsky (1978) stated that “language is the main tool that promotes thinking, develops reasoning, and supports cultural activities like reading and writing”. Teachers need to provide the opportunity for children to discuss their own learning, it helps children build off one another and to learn off one another through meaningful exchange, this then promotes deeper understanding and communication. Discussion-based classroom using socratic dialogue can lead each
“When groups are planned so that each member's strengths have authentic importance to the ultimate success of the group's activity, this creates a situation where individual learning styles, skills, and talents are valued, and students shine in their fortes and learn from each other in the areas where they are not as expert.”(Willis)
Torey have a fit plan for each child in her classroom that meets that child’s individual needs. Each morning before getting the day started, Torey will use group discussions to discuss topic exploring feelings, the schedule of the day and just allow students to have a chance to communicate with one another to create communication and the development of verbal understanding. “The children all came from such chaotic and disrupted home that we needed something to reunite us each morning after being apart” (Hayden,18). Group discussions in One Child, is an intended teaching strategy to create communication and connections between Torey and the students. In a way she is creating a safe environment where students can feel safe and comfortable while learning is taking place.
The purpose of this qualitative, descriptive case study is to identify the impact small group instruction has on academic achievement, attendance, and behavioral problems in a middle school. Phase one will incorporate teacher insight and perspective into students perceived academic skill set and usefulness of small group instruction. This will indicate and provide indicators that regardless of the group instruction implemented, strategies to engage the students not currently participating in the small groupsettings are necessary. On the other hand, an overtaxed, stressed-out teacher with too many small-group or individual learning activities may not be emotionally available to sensitively respond to the diverse needs of all children (Reutzal,
Introductions: In chapter five the author discusses the learning tasks with individual small groups. Small groups is designed for individual’s learning, which an individual can change their own behavior. Individuals can change by using these strategies: energy, diversity, productivity, protection, getting the job done, pace, inclusion, phrasing, and input. These are learning task that will help individuals in small groups become better. In chapter six the author discusses the principles and practices of learning. There are twelve principles of learning which are needs and resources assessment, safety, sound relationships, sequence and reinforcement, praxis (action/reflection/action), respect, individual ideas/feeling/actions, immediacy, clear
To appease to the typical “hierarchical” displays of male students in discussion and the preference of female students to talk in small groups and avoid hostility while also being aware of the cultural differences in communication, a compromise somewhere between typical classroom discussion and Tannen’s experimental small groups must be developed. Classes should incorporate small group discussions frequently and would likely benefit from having multiple groups throughout the semester as Tannen implemented so that ineffective groups may be eliminated. Regardless of the characteristic used to divide groups, sex, race, or discussion style, it would be the responsibility of the teacher to observe conversations and move students where they see
Working as part of teams and small groups during these experiments has allowed me to become a better leader by taking charge of the group when appropriate and also enabled me to improve my listening and communication skills by working collectively, sharing ideas and combining opinions. I recently undertook a voluntary work placement at a local primary school as a classroom assistant to the Year 5 teacher. This week long placement gave me the opportunity to assist pupils during their lessons and to help them develop their own solutions to the work being studied. I found this to be a fantastically rewarding experience as it gave me the chance to develop my confidence in working with groups of children, many with differing abilities requiring different approaches and
Middle school is the time for exploration and identity development. This age is defined by two periods of cognitive development that Jean Piaget called the concrete operational age and the formal operations stage. For this very reason, lessons and activities in the middle school need to be varied and unique. Students develop at different rates, and for this reason some of my students maybe concrete thinkers while others could be abstract thinkers. It all boils down to that individual student. Therefore, it is important to understand that not every student learns at the same pace from the same activity. What may work for one will not work for all. This is why in my math classes I will incorporate problem-solving tasks and questions. I believe in groupwork when it comes to these types of problems because it gives students a chance to listen to multiple ways of thinking to come to a solution. I cannot think of a job today where someone will always work alone. Our society is built on cooperation between different types of peoples to achieve one goal, to improve our world. Teaching students these lessons early on, increases their abilities to work together to come to a solution for a problem, and to embrace the diversity of learning in those
Belair Elementary School has four hundred twenty-five students, of those students forty-four have IEPs (Individualized Education Plan) or 10.3 percent. One instructional strategy that I could implement for these students is that of small group work. Small group work has many benefits such as the students will receive support from others in the group. So they are not just doing independent work but learning from others and interacting with others. Also, group work focuses on specific skills of those students. With that I could match instruction to each students’ needs and have them work with students who will help them learn. The teacher can place students in specific groups based on their specific groups so they will learn from the group and
Charney’s (1992) article defines the importance of problem-solving techniques that can be utilized within the context of a public classroom meeting with students and the teacher. One important quote that I found interesting was based on the idea of cooperation and providing problem-solving skills for children to learn in a group setting: “In a class meeting, we are teaching (as well as exercising) vital skills in cooperation and problem solving. We will need to be patient and encouraging” (78). In the article, Charney (1992) defines the problem of cliques, secret sabotage, bullying, and infighting that many children endure, which can be exposed within the context of these classroom meetings. Teachers can challenge students to interactively
People discuss various issues with their family members, friends, and colleagues (Nam, 2004)17. In the context of education, classroom discussion develops habits of collaborative learning, shows respect for students' voices and experiences, and affirms them as co-creators of knowledge (Brookfield & Preskill, 2005)18. Moreover, it provides valuable feedback to the teacher (Bacay, 2004)19. One format for classroom discussion is Philosophical Chairs (Risi, Schiro, & Serret-Lopez, 2005)20.
In this zone, learning is most successful as well as challenging if pupils are put in groups or pairs so that they support each other and the involvement of a MKO will make a big difference. I would design lessons with achievable challenges for the pupils so that they learn and act within the ZPD (Wellington, J. and Ireson G, 2008) . I have included scaffolding in my lessons. Wood et al.,(1976) introduced scaffolding when they wrote an article about interaction of tutors’ helping a preschooler to solve a block reconstruction problem. Scaffolding occurs in those tasks that are beyond the pupil’s capacity and it allows the pupil to concentrate and complete the tasks that are within his range of competence . I have added activities in my plan that help with scaffolding, activities such as jigsaw groups when pupils are learning about different uses of glucose in photosynthesis. That way students come together in reciprocal teaching groups and relay their information together to complete the jigsaw. My role therefore will change from giving them knowledge to a
As a 3rd grade educator, I pride myself in incorporating professional principles in to my curriculum. By infusing small groups into my lessons daily, aids in targeting the specific needs of all my students. I have researched two small groups instruction in which I will utilize in my classroom. The small groups’ instructions are quick thinks and cognitive scaffolding. Quick thinks examined by Cooper and Robinson (2014) are types of classroom evaluation in which the instructional and other performance configurations are interposed by inquiries or subjects that oblige students to process data independently or in sets or groups. Cognitive scaffolding conversely, is a type of bolster briefly offered by educators when presenting additional material
Talk and discussion within the class amongst learners helps them to openly talk about their ideas and make judgments on others ideas. This process of talk encourages those less vocal learners in the class. When formative assessment is taking place, it is difficult for teachers to judge everyone, therefore when discussions are taking place, teachers can freely roam the class and listen to
The government guidance acknowledges that setting doesn 't guarantee full homogeneity within the groups and therefore differentiation is still necessary in lessons, as they need to be tailored specifically to their profile and allow the implementation of strategies that able pupils to be stretched in their different capacities (DfES, 2006). Nevertheless, intelligent use of group setting would allow teachers to plan with more confidence, allocate resources - like teaching assistants - to more demanding groups (DfES, 2006), and differentiate their approach to different groups.
Cooperative learning “creates a vibrant, interactive community in the classroom” (Pratt, 2003). This strategy is used more for inquiry based activities which facilitates learning in a safe learning environment. Slavin (1991) feels that “cooperative learning approaches have incorporated two key elements: group goals and individual accountability” (p. 74). There have been positive effects which are consistently found in the students, as a growth in their self-esteem, group relationships, acceptance of diverse students, attitudes, and their ability to work communally. This strategy has some similarities to collaboration.