Teamwork in The Middle

Ahhh...the time old teamwork. There is no better feeling then a collaborative learning activity that works the way that it is designed. Students working together, truly engaged and being thoughtful about their work. The true test of a collaborative learning project? Friday mornings!

As a teacher I am always trying to figure out how to get groups of students to work together. To treat each other with kindness and empathy while tackling a higher order thinking activity. Yesterday I had an AMAZING day. I had a VAMLE board meeting in Shelburne and was able to visit a dear friends 3rd grade classroom. As my very talented friend was going over expectations for group work with her students I was reminded in the importance of using visual indicators for students on what your expectations are. Students would give examples of the expectation for group work and she would then draw a symbol on the board. This is an old practice that I would do and then I unlearned the habit over the years. With this inspiration I thought that I would try it today.


So off I went. Students were going to work in collaborative groups to take the Mission Related Goals for our school district and creating student friendly posters to show what this teacher language means. Students were to work in groups of 6-8 students (which is a HUGE group) so we came up with group expectations and I came up with some "creative" visuals for students and this is what we came up with:

Students decided that they needed to make sure that everyone in their groups:

•  had a voice and a job/ role within the group
• one of roles of the group would be the thought checker who would check in with the group members
• that everyones ideas and questions should be shared
• finally that the groups should monitor their own volumes

I am very happy to say that it was one of the most successful group work times that we have had this year! I have some images of the final products students made that I will post later!