Student Outcome Research: This study was very confusing to me. It took a couple of readings for me to gain a better understanding of it. One point I found very interesting was the finding on the positive effects of small-group learning over individual learning. Considering this study was done 7 years ago, I find (in my district) that most teachers still do not use small group study very much. I don't know if it's because most of our teachers are nearing retirement and don't want to change up their curriculum, or if they just don't believe that students working in groups can be productive. Along that same thought, another point that was made in the study referenced that technology can help in changing a teacher's practice from teacher-centered to student-centered, where students work cooperatively, make choices and are more active in their learning. This made me think again of the teacher's I work with and how I run my own projects. I have to say that having students work in groups is something I've learned from the many tech integration workshops I've attended. I wonder though, why isn't group collaboration and technology integration taught at in education colleges? I attend UW-W in 2003, when this study was conducted, and these study techniques were never addressed. Nor were they prevalent in my student teaching experiences.
Teaching Principles: In reading over the theories and principles, I can totally relate to "effective teaching involves recognizing and overcoming our expert blind spot". This is my biggest struggle. I work with students from PreK - 12th grade. One hour I could be working with 1oth grade students on a biology research project, the next I'm working with 2nd graders teaching them fiction vs. non-fiction books in the library. Previous to this job, my experience had been with grade 6-12 students. I learned right away that when working with elementary kids, every step needs to be directed to them. Nothing can be assumed. I learned that I had to break my project tasks down to every detail in order for them to succeed at the project we were working on. It was very frustrating to me to introduce the steps were we going to take in a fun, new project - only to have blank stares on their little faces. They had no idea what I was talking about or how they were to complete the task I had asked of them because I did not specifically communicate each keystroke they needed to make on the computer. Several failed projects caused me to get ideas from the elementary teachers on how to teach the students at their level and now the fun and adventure has come back into my projects for the elementary students!
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Another explanation for the lack of small group work may be that we tend to teach as we were taught. Think about the classrooms that many of today's teachers learned in: straight rows, lectures, "sage on the stage." Using group work means thinking outside the box and developing new types of assessment!
ReplyDeleteI can relate to what you're talking about, Mary. I find myself assuming that my students have prior knowledge that they don't have, and that could spell disaster for any project. Frustration builds not only on the part of the student but on the part of the teacher. Especially when you have to change gears as often as a PreK-12 LMS has to - as you've state, one minute you're addressing high school students and the next lower elementary. I also find that this is my blind spot, but after reading the article I am more cognizant of it and try to take my time in explaining my assignments. Doing so will make my teaching better and more meaningful. I have to be willing to put myself in my student's shoes - no matter what size they are!
ReplyDeleteIn my school, group work was a big topic two years ago. Some parents complained when the teacher formed groups. Other parents complained when the teacher allowed the students to form groups. In the former, parents complained because they thought their bright child did a preponderance of the work but the "lazy" kid still got the same grade. In the latter, parents complained because kids could either form super groups (and not so super groups) or they felt their child was "left out." In the end, administration asked teachers to choose groups whenever possible so that students would not have to feel like the last kid picked for a game of kickball. Teachers then formed balanced groups - hard workers with those that needed to be motivated. More parent complaints. I noticed last year, there were not as many group projects from all staff.
ReplyDeleteLast year, with the two day technology training that inspired me, I experimented with group work using a wiki project. Each health group opened one project wiki for the group. Within the wiki, each student opened a page (the title was their names). The front page of the wiki became the presentation page. Individual pages were used for each group member to gather the elements of the project needed to satisfy the rubric. I was able to monitor each individual page and give feedback along the way. In the end, all but one student earned an "A" and I had zero complaints (which is unprecedented for my Catholic school). This year, I am adding elements of Google apps, wikis, and tokbox for group work, and so far, the kids are loving it. I am now training the other teachers in the school how this whole technology/group work thing works, and they are becoming excited with the possibilities.