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First, reframe the conversation by using the terminology of teams rather than group work. Think of your favorite sports team and now call them a group. Have the students especially those who play team sports explain why and how the team works together and how it makes for a winning strategy.
Have team members share their individual strengths.
Have the students actually think about and discuss the meaning of teamwork.
Set the rules *and* do think about making special arrangements for kids who cannot for some reason work with a team.
Prepare for failure and restructuring.
See conflict as an opportunity and have kids practice resolving conflict before they start a project.
Allow time for brainstorming.
Teach focused communication.
Reward innovation.
Reflect after the project is done and have students evaluate what could have been done to make the team more successful.
Does this take more time? Yep, but it pays off.
I have watched the A students do this when they are allowed to choose their own groups.
They collaborate in the true sense and need very little "teaching". When they do ask questions it's after they've discussed it among themselves and come up with a stalemate.
And I've also seen the "copiers" (for lack of a better description) grouped together.
They'll spend some time just talking among themselves with no work done. Then they start to look around the room and see the other groups working and something always seems to click with them and they start working. I usually come over to them at that time and start asking questions about their setup and approach to get them going.
I work in low SE schools though with a high amount of behavior problem children.
I've learned the time to pounce is when THEY decide to engage. Until then it's like talking to a wall.
And I know what you are posting is the textbook way to do it but I just don't encounter those students that reflect and evaluate. They just want to get the work done and handed in and move on.
I have watched the A students do this when they are allowed to choose their own groups.
They collaborate in the true sense and need very little "teaching". When they do ask questions it's after they've discussed it among themselves and come up with a stalemate.
And I've also seen the "copiers" (for lack of a better description) grouped together.
They'll spend some time just talking among themselves with no work done. Then they start to look around the room and see the other groups working and something always seems to click with them and they start working. I usually come over to them at that time and start asking questions about their setup and approach to get them going.
I work in low SE schools though with a high amount of behavior problem children.
I've learned the time to pounce is when THEY decide to engage. Until then it's like talking to a wall.
And I know what you are posting is the textbook way to do it but I just don't encounter those students that reflect and evaluate. They just want to get the work done and handed in and move on.
I don't see why if team sports can engage kids and teach them to collaborate, we cannot do the same with academic projects. They need practice. They need to buy in, of course, but getting buy in is a function of setting this up early (well before high school, imo).
I don't see why if team sports can engage kids and teach them to collaborate, we cannot do the same with academic projects. They need practice. They need to buy in, of course, but getting buy in is a function of setting this up early (well before high school, imo).
Sports and academics are on different planes.
Sports is fun and it's highly competitive with "us vs them" which enhances teamwork with the goal to "beat them".
I don't see why if team sports can engage kids and teach them to collaborate, we cannot do the same with academic projects. They need practice. They need to buy in, of course, but getting buy in is a function of setting this up early (well before high school, imo).
They want to be on team sports, have to earn a spot on the team, and because you are performing in front of others, everyone knows who to label contributors and who to label distractors in the team's wins and losses. Big difference.
They want to be on team sports, have to earn a spot on the team, and because you are performing in front of others, everyone knows who to label contributors and who to label distractors in the team's wins and losses. Big difference.
Right, work done in school is not the same but all of the activities contribute in the overall development of a student. It teaches team work and enhances leadership qualities which, you know very well, are required for any kind of professional work.
While this may make sense on paper, it is not the case in real life. More often then not, the failing student views being paired with an A-student as their "get out of jail free" card, since most teachers place the big project at the end of each quarter. Since projects are worth a lot of points, any slacker with half a brain will realize that all they need to do is force the A-student to do all the work, which will bring their F grade to a D, thereby getting them out of the class.
I usually pair up the Rhode Scholars with the Gomer Pyles.
1. It helps the Gomer Pyles to learn it from others.
2. It tends to deflated the egos of the Rhode Scholars just enough to keep them grounded.
Each student is evaluated on their contribution. I am confident the scholars will do well, I am anticipating the Gomer Pyles to do better.
God I hope this is sarcasm/satire of some sort.
1. GP doesn't learn a damn thing. Well, actually, that's not true. S/he learns to manipulate the ambition/drive/etc of the A student. Lacklustre, unmotivated students turning into scholars just does not happen as you suggest.
2. Tall poppy syndrome, eh? The "Rhodes Scholar" intellectually-inclined kids are already struggling against an anti-intellectual culture which is dismissive or openly hostile to them. Of more immediate relevance, they are being held personally responsible for a group effort. And s/he has no power over the group: s/he can't hire or fire; s/he has no "carrot" or "stick" to provide incentive; the task may be too large for s/he to complete on his/her own.
2. Tall poppy syndrome, eh? The "Rhodes Scholar" intellectually-inclined kids are already struggling against an anti-intellectual culture which is dismissive or openly hostile to them. Of more immediate relevance, they are being held personally responsible for a group effort. And s/he has no power over the group: s/he can't hire or fire; s/he has no "carrot" or "stick" to provide incentive; the task may be too large for s/he to complete on his/her own.
1. GP doesn't learn a damn thing. Well, actually, that's not true. S/he learns to manipulate the ambition/drive/etc of the A student. Lacklustre, unmotivated students turning into scholars just does not happen as you suggest.
2. Tall poppy syndrome, eh? The "Rhodes Scholar" intellectually-inclined kids are already struggling against an anti-intellectual culture which is dismissive or openly hostile to them. Of more immediate relevance, they are being held personally responsible for a group effort. And s/he has no power over the group: s/he can't hire or fire; s/he has no "carrot" or "stick" to provide incentive; the task may be too large for s/he to complete on his/her own.
This, this, and more this. A smart leech knows that all he has to to pass the class is to get a good grade on the final project, so they are at free will because they know the A-student will be forced to do all the work anyway to maintain their average. Most leeches are just looking to get that Diploma by doing the minimum possible work.
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