Week Five

     There is a time and place for individual practice and direct whole group instruction. It is also important to understand that, as supported by constructivist approaches, cooperative, student-centered learning activities can be inspiring and can improve problem-solving abilities. Student-centered learning requires teachers to plan for many scenarios and guide the learning with clear objectives. Much modeling of behaviors and procedures aids students in being successful and fully, productively engaged which prevents the often dreaded behaviors of group work gone awry. 

    I have found that cooperative learning activities such as jigsaw and think-pair-share help my students deepen their understandings of concepts beyond basic rote knowledge. My students, over several years, spent most of their time in groups of desks having collaborative conversations except rare occasions that they were required to demonstrate independent proficiency. This year was very different because Covid restrictions had our students facing the same way, as close to six feet apart as possible, with mask requirements when students were talking with each other. It was hard, it was defeating, and learning sometimes felt mundane becasue students were somewhat isolated. Whole group discussion and collaboration can only take the place of so much small-group, grappling to achieve an objective as a team knowing there is recognition and reward at the end for excellence. 

    I am looking forward to a year with Covid restrictions lifted where I can use my primary school collaborative approach in a seventh grade classroom. I am literally (such a nerdy, obsessed teacher) dreaming of the challenging problems I can assign and jigsaw opportunities for the coming year. The reason I am anticipating this freedom again is not that I have a new-found appreciation for how things were. I knew without a shadow of a doubt for four years why my approach worked well. Just like adult learners, children crave connection and sharing with their peers. They bring varied backgrounds and schemas to share with the group. Kids are sponges and take new learning to immediately process and apply it to the task at hand. Relationships inspire diligent, engaged work. I am convinced I will meet the needs of more students by being able to increase collaborative, student-centered learning tasks.