Reflect after reading Chapters 2-4:
How do we form collaborative groups and where will these groups work? Why does room arrangement matter?
Consider the following questions:
- What is resonating with you from the reading?
- What caused you to pause and think during this section?
Respond and Interact
After reading these chapters, please post your response to one {or more} of the prompts above. Read our colleagues' reflections. Feel free to respond to someone by sharing a comment, insight or interesting possibility.
I had a lot of pause and think moments while reading these chapters. My first pause in think moment was when reading about how students will fall into designated roles within groups and students will only break out of these roles when the groups are truly random. I am struggling with this because in a lot of my resource room groups I only have between 2-6 students, and these students often spend years together in the resource room. How can I create a thinking classroom when I don't have the flexibility to form random learning groups? This ties into my second pause and think moment. How do I create a defronted classroom when most of students meet at a kidney shaped table? I am thinking that we need to use the small white boards more often, and we can sit on the floor around the room.
ReplyDeleteIn these three chapters, I found that the idea from the first section of reading about not asking if something is good or bad, but what is it good for resonating with me consistently. Personally, I prefer organization and order to my classroom environment. When I think about it through the lens of what is my desired outcome, it is to make my teaching life easier and to allow students to know what to expect. Neither of those things are bad and at the same time do they inherently promote thinking and risk taking and problem solving? No, they do not. Liljedahl's assertions about arranging furniture, in addition to forming groups and where they work, have me confronting some of my own beliefs and desired outcomes and how my choices lead to outcomes that may be different from my beliefs. Certainly things I will continue to ponder!
ReplyDeleteSo many things, I guess I can get on board with random partnerships and just got my frog sticks out. But then what happens when you get 2 kids that don't/can't work independently? Then is all of my time spent with them and then how do I know what the rest of the class is doing? What do I do with the child who refuses to work with a partner? I kind of understand the marker thing but wouldn't it be easier to see each child's contribution if they each had a different color? That's what the GLAD program says. How are we supposed to know which researching body is the most correct? Is the author suggesting that all work gets done in this way for math? I really don't think that I can get on board with furniture being moved around all of the time. My second graders have enough trouble trying to focus without the room looking different at any point in the day. I'm also confused where it says that in the defronted classroom teachers don't talk as much or demonstrate as much. So where are the kids getting information from? Sounds to me then that the teacher walks from group to group individually giving input. I'm feeling crabby now. I can definitely see this working after teaching something and then to give a problem for the team to work on. Kids do need to learn how to converse, share and learn from each other.
ReplyDeleteDon't be crabby, Kim! 😊 He mentions changing the groups regularly so if 2 kids end up together who aren't very successful together...they won't be there for long. And you can always intervene if it is *that* bad.
DeleteIt really pushed me when he talked about "defronting" my classroom - sounded completely crazy to someone who finds peace in routine and organization. But I don't think it's intended to be all day every day. It made me think about how I could do better to teach around the room instead of being locked into the same spot everyday. I was at a training yesterday and I was noticing when the presenter utilized some of these strategies with us adult learners (random groupings, defronting the room, standing vs. sitting, etc). I felt myself thinking (and learning) when he was allowing us to struggle and make sense of the content in our small groups instead of listening to him tell us everything he knows about material. Certainly there are places to step in and provide clarity and ask questions that help move learning forward. But I know that I am often guilty of "over teaching" when my learners could probably be set free to give it a try a whole lot sooner than I allowed them to.
I am learning so much from this book! Chapter 2 really caused me to pause and think about what the research is saying about student groupings. The optimal size for K-2 and 3-5 groups re-affirmed what I have experienced with students. There is definitely more opportunity to engage when groups of smaller and less group dynamics that come into play. The idea of visibly random groups was new to me. What especially struck me was that groups shouldn't be together for more than 1 hour before they should be re-randomized. I was initially thinking random groups could be for the week, but I imagine that groups may be working together longer than an our in total for the week so taking time to form new groups would be necessary.
ReplyDeleteWhat resonated with you from this reading?
ReplyDeleteTeaching first grade, we get into pairs or small groups often several times each day either during small group reading, partner reading, math, sharing our writing, etc. I've used all of the methods given as examples in chapter 2 from pairing up a low/high, letting them choose their partner, a girl/boy, etc. Two things that came to mind as I was reading reminded me of teaching today. First, was a talk with a student who responded with an "ughhhhh" after not getting paired with a friend. Secondly, thinking about a girl who is shy and may feel uncomfortable when given a choice of who to pair up with when buddy reading. Clearly, this seemed to be a social stress for her and made me think about whether not to give that option in the future. A tool I LOVE using for random partners is our Class Dojo website. I use it to post class pictures but under "tool kit" you can create groups of all different sizes and students can see it happen right in front of them, so they know it's not pre-planned. Typically I'll pull popsicle sticks as well with names so it's random. Here I've been thinking gosh I should have pre-planned my partners ahead of time but it sounds like the random pairing may be better after all-ha! I also like how random pairing still gives kids second chances to show that they can work with someone maybe they didn't do well with before.
I had a lot of "stop and think" moments throughout these three chapters! I felt great as I am not consistent with my collaborative groups, and it validated that it was okay! YAY! I change my groups often! Sometimes I pull sticks, sometimes I randomly slid their names together for partnerships and other times I say find someone you KNOW you can work with and also find someone you never have worked with. Somedays, it backfires but it also allows the kids to be flexible!
ReplyDeleteWhen thinking about where the kids work in the classroom, I want to be the flexible teacher but often struggle with the chaos. When kids are all over the place it heightens my sense of "lack of control" feeling. I do believe it is important to give the kids places and opportunity to sit and stand when needed! Heck, I do my best work laying on the ground!
I am constantly rearranging desks! At this moment the kids are paired off! It was only supposed to last for a week but after reading this chapter I have left it. With second grade, groups of three would be fantastic, but I need more floor space!
It sounds like your doing a great job giving your students some flexible options and switching up partners. Sticks are one of my favorites and so easy to use. I like rearranging desks often as well so they can work with a variety of students and to see what works best. Sometimes the arrangements I thought they wouldn't care for (such as rows with pairs of two during covid) they shared that they liked the best.
Delete