After reading this week's Weekly Investment, I have made the realization that group work can be a recipe for success to student success.I say this because just like grandma's delicious desserts; group work is about putting together ingredients (students) and blending them together.
Preparation:
For grandma, it is all about the design of the kitchen and
the access of her appliances and ingredients that allows her to bake delicious desserts.
As a future educator, it is all about setting up my classroom for productive group
work to occur. To conduct group work the classroom needs to be set up in a way
that can be easily adapted to accommodate small groups of students working on
material. Pods, or tables are somethings I want to implement in my own
classroom.
Ingredients:
For grandma, it’s about mixing the right combination of
sugar and flour and baking soda. As a future educator, it’s about determining
the perfect combination of abilities and the right number of students for each
group in my classroom. Research has shown that four students gives just
enough for active participation by all members and works well when the groups
need to be split up smaller into pairs.
Directions:
For grandma, it’s about perfectly blending the ingredients together.
As a future educator, it is about me finding classroom differentiation to meet
all students’ needs. By distributing students into groups, while having students
with varied multiple intelligence, yet students that are like, to work together
at an even pace.
Serving:
For grandma, it’s about checking on the progress of the dessert
as it bakes to ensure rising occurs. For the educator, it’s about prompting
yourself to move around the classroom to ensure student engagement is in the
activity. This allows the educator to observe, intervene and evaluate the
groups to allow for student success.
Relating the different aspects of this week's reading and your reflections to a recipe was such a creative idea! What sources did you reference to help you craft your blog post? Please make sure to cite all of your sources in APA format.
ReplyDeleteHalee, this is very creative how you have tied the idea of your classroom and lessons to a kitchen and following a recipe. I think that this puts a lot of the ideas we have been given into perspective better when we can think about the same ideas but outside of the classroom.
ReplyDeleteHeather, this was so unique with the viewpoint of a recipe! Great thoughts on the benefits of group work overall. I have a video link on my blog that shows a particular strategy of group learning. Check it out! Here is the link: https://inchestoacresteachingtogrow.blogspot.com/2017/09/aee412-sunday-reflections-4.html
ReplyDeleteGreat analogy. Groups can be a positive influence on learning, as well as behavior. Encouraging kids to work with others fosters more cooperativeness today than ever.
ReplyDeleteHalee, great insight into all the factors of having students work cooperatively. Fun analogy, as well! :)
ReplyDeleteHello Halee, this reflection made me smile. I like how you compared group work to a recipe! Good job stressing the importance of how you make your groups. I also think it's important to consider which students go in which groups! Do you want every student in the group to be at the same learning level? Or do you want students with varied learning levels in a group?
ReplyDeleteHalee, I really enjoyed your blog post. It was so unique, fun, and an easy read! If you incorporate this creativity into your lesson plans and everyday classroom instruction, you are going to be fantastic!
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