@TeachThought Day 25: Ideal Student Collaboration

What does student collaboration look like? I often ask this very question of my students and their answers are insightful. They feel student collaboration should occur when students are facing one another and making eye contact. When I ask what student collaboration sounds like they mention student conversations should remain on-topic, respectful (especially when disagreeing on topics and issues), and all students should use low voices. 

I feel their views are spot-on. I also believe student collaboration should center on higher-level, open-ended questions. Project-based learning (see yesterday's post) is ideal, in my opinion. Giving students the chance to work on real-life issues will prepare them for the 21st century. 

Middle school students need the chance to practice social and content vocabulary and collaboration allows this to occur. I am taking a risk tomorrow and have my classes complete an online discussion for the first time. This will be the perfect teachable moment to not only talk about digital citizenship but also how to filter statements before hitting the send key. Non-verbal communication (body language and eye contact) will not help students in a discussion forum and this form of communication requires tact and diplomacy. #reflectiveteacher

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Name That Executive Role!

Image
Students today learned about the many roles of the head of the Executive Branch, the President of the United States. I found several images of former Presidents in these roles--can you guess which is which? Post your answers below or email them to me. Choices: Commander-In-Chief Chief Executive Political Party Head Chief Diplomat 1.  President Eisenhower 2. President George HW Bush (on the right side of the picture) 3. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt  4. President Reagan meeting with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (this one's a bit of a giveaway!)
Read more

Historical Perspective and Peel the Fruit Thinking Routine

Image
Practicing historical perspective is an essential social studies skill. Historical perspective is being able to step into a historic situation and examine the motivations, biases, and beliefs of a person or group of people. Students have to revert to the beliefs of a group of people even if those beliefs completely contradict the views we have today. They must weigh decisions based on the situation of the time, not necessarily how situations are viewed today. The C3 Framework for Social Studies states that "Historical understanding requires recognizing this multiplicity of points of view in the past, which makes it important to seek out a range of sources on any historical question rather than simply use those that are easiest to find. It also requires recognizing that perspectives change over time, so that historical understanding requires developing a sense of empathy with people in the past whose perspectives might be very different from those of today." http://www.so...
Read more

Industrial Revolution Haiku

Students have been learning about the Industrial Revolution in the mid1800s and how it changed life in New England. Today students processed their learning by creating haiku poems on the subject. They were challenged to think about and evaluate this topic within the structure of a haiku, a 3 line poem with 17 total syllables--5 in the 1st and 3rd lines and 7 in the second line. The poems have been impressive and some will be posted here soon.
Read more