Reading Reflection 5 - I'm Thinking . . .

Not like I wasn't convinced before. After all, a master teacher friend of mine has been telling me about the power of group work for over a year, "Put it on the students. They do amazing things and group work ends up taking care of 80% of your class management -- grading, discipline, homework etc. After all a kid can explain to another kid better than an adult ever will."

Linda does not mean to abdicate all her responsibilities; it's more so a proper delegation of authority. When I observed her I never saw such a task master keep a class moving. She really means that we need to tap into our students to make them part of the learning AND teaching responsibilities. This is what I'm hearing from CSUSM and Cohen. This is what is sinking into my head and when I start teaching I suspect that my little yellow Cohen book will become my bible.

In Chap 7 "Letting Go and Teaming Up" Cohen addresses this very trust in telling us not to "hover". You need to be there to observe, especially from a safe distance so they don't gravitate to you. (Lawler, I've witnessed you do this quite often). And you have to know when to move in if the group is floundering (I've seen you do this too when we floundered over the Ethnography).
Letting the students go, however, all hinges upon whether or not you, (I the teacher) created an atmosphere where group work isn't a mystery.

Perhaps the most important foundtion in group work lies in setting our students up for success. For example, assigning certain roles that will keep the project moving along is just a start. A facilitator, a reporter, the leader. All these roles will keep a student engaged, part of the group. It will give them a sense of belonging to the group. Most importantly, every single one of these roles is designed to give the students a chance to take a crack at "asking questions, requesting justification, predicting, hypothesizing, inferring and concluding." (92) This might be the single most compelling reason to teach our kids how to work in groups successfully. To give our kids the gift of this higher order thinking and in such away that is super inclusive (I mean they are empowered to guide their practice!) is a very powerful teaching tool.

Another reminder of successful group work resurfaces in chapter 8. Yes, we do have to insure that everyone gets a chance of becoming an expert, even the "low status students". A step I've taken in this direction already (and I never really understood why I did it) was a question that I put in my "Get to Know You Survey". I ask my new students to tell me something they are good at and then in parenthesis I state,"this can be anything, whistling, skipping, skateboarding, singing, etc" Maybe my regard for what Dave Letterman calls "stupid human tricks" might be my ace-in-the-hole when I start to teach. I am in awe at the things people can do and how the way in which they discover to do them. I've always recognized people's multiple intelligences. I will, however, be sure to keep in mind what Cohen says about not bolstering intelligences that don't carry heft in Western Civ--such as being good w/ your hands. Hmmmm, in writing this, I don't totally agree w/ her. I believe that if you point out how good someone is, especially coming from the position of a teacher, then you can sell these intelligences on the students as well.