Chapter 7

Group Work That Grows Understanding

"Curriculum is often thought of as a set of specific knowledge, skills or books to be covered. I propose instead that we think of curriculum as a set of important conversations that we want students to engage in."- Arthur Applebee

I enjoyed reading this chapter. I like to do group work in person. Online group work is something that I don't particularly enjoy. I like to see the people I am talking to and eye contact is very important. You are probably wondering why I am taking an online class after comment? I am taking online courses because I live in Gallup and most of the courses I need in order to graduate are only offered at the main campus. Taking online courses allows me to finish my degree sooner.

Cris, starts off the chapter with no one needing her help as her students are working in groups. They are completing their assignment and the groups are made up of 5 to 6 people. She likes the discussions that are taking place in each group. She then tells us that her role during discussion groups has changed in the last few years. She does admit that at first having the class work in groups was frustrating and exhausting, but was reminded of the benefits of small-group work. So, she decided during that rough time, she was going to figure out how to make group work successful. She says that there is an art to discussion, and people will get better at it with practice and timely feedback. She says that the students need to know what they are doing right so that they will keep doing it.

Her first advice is to have the students write down three things that bug them about group work. After going through these papers, she wrote up what concerns of theirs was negotiable and shared it with the class. Under each concern there was a student action and a teacher action that described what each will do to better the concern. These turned out to be the classroom guidelines for group work. Next, she modeled a group discussion that was good and bad. Cris was acting like a bad group member, while her friend was the good group member. The students were asked to write down the good and bad behaviors they say. She says that she can group struggling readers together or mix it up so that the struggling readers can join groups that are having in-depth conversations.

At first, Cris starts by giving each group the same piece of text to go over. Each student gets one sticky note and is to write down one thought they have about the cover. Then, they are to combine all of the comments and find any connections among them. They can then move on to more in-depth thinking. They can use the Highlight and Revisit strategy that has the students use the comprehension constructor. In the first column students write down what is highlighted and in the second column write down the deeper thinking behind the words. One student in each group is assigned to be a recorder and before the class is over, Cris has each group share their notes with the class and now the students are able to make connections across different groups. While the groups are working, Cris is taking notes about what is working and what is not working, who is participating or not, so that she can tweak what is expected of the students to help the group work run smoother.

Group work is something, if done right, that can help facilitate in the learning the students are doing. At first it will be hard, but Cris says to stick with it especially if your classroom size is 30+.

Renee