Artifact+7+Reflection+on+Groupwork

= Artifact 7: Reflection on Groupwork (TE 855) =



Program Standards: 1, 3 Program Goals:

This piece was completed as part of our weekly response in TE 855. After reading two chapters from Cohen’s //Designing Groupwork// (1999), we were to apply her ideas to the group work we had used in our classrooms. The chapters were titled “The Dilemma of Groupwork” and “Treating Expectations for Competence.”

By reading these chapters and applying it to my own classroom, it made me appreciate the different strengths and skills students brought to the classroom (standard 1). I was able to appreciate that while not all students are extremely successful at all things, they can be experts at something. Whether it is because of specialized training or innate ability, this expertise gives them more confidence in themselves in other situations. Also, other students, normally the “smart” kids, will notice this expertise and be more accepting and considerate of the expert’s ideas. In this way, creating a classroom environment where all students can show and use their strengths, and therefore be seen as an expert, is crucial to having effective group work.

By looking at expertise in this way, I gained a new appreciation for one of the curricular initiatives our school has taken (standard 3). We offer a foundations class for Algebra 1 and Geometry. It is a second class that functions as a supplemental experience for the students in it. Previous to reading these chapters, I viewed these classes as an opportunity for those students who struggle to get the extra support they need in order to understand the material. By looking at these classes instead as a tool to make students who typically have low academic status into experts on material not yet covered in the main class, I gained a deeper appreciation for the benefit these classes provide.

In the future, I will need to make sure that I find a way to make experts out of all of my students. Since not all students have access to the foundations classes, I need to adapt my teaching so that all students can have that success. It may be as simple as letting a student know ahead of time the next question that will be asked or require a shift in pedagogy to allow students to display their strengths. Either way, I will need to make sure I get to know what areas my students excel in. This will allow all members of my class to participate fully and effectively in group discussions and give me more confidence that using group work will accomplish my educational goals.

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Artifact 6. Artifact Summary and Evidence. Artifact 8