Equitable Groupwork Agenda & Learning Targets Agenda: Learning - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Equitable Groupwork

Agenda & Learning Targets Agenda: Learning Targets: ● Why groupwork? I can distinguish a few key features ● Pitfalls of groupwork ● of equitable groupwork. What is groupwork? I can explain how status ● ● Status hierarchies in the classroom hierarchies limit student learning ● ● Strategies for minimizing status during groupwork. hierarchies ● I can identify a few strategies for Strategies for teaching students how minimizing status in the classroom. ● to engage more equitably

Why Groupwork? Why is it important that our students work in groups?

“Problems” that can arise during Groupwork Open Sharing

My basic belief about learning in groups... How students perceive what it means to be “smart” in your content area matters ● How students perceive themselves and others as “smart” matters ● ● We are not born “smart” at something...we learn how to be “smart” at it (effort!) Everyone is good at something (intellectual) and no one is good at everything ●

What is groupwork? Groupwork is NOT: Differentiation groups ● Teacher-directed groups ● Ability grouping ● Groupwork IS: 3-5 students working collaboratively in homogeneous ● Teacher has delegated authority to the group ● Students are responsible for HOW the task gets completed ○ Students are held accountable as a GROUP and INDIVIDUALLY for the final product of the ○ grouwork Students need each other to complete the task. It can not be accomplished alone ● in the time given. Task requires multiple “smarts”.

Complex Instruction Norms and Roles Status Multiple Ability Curriculum

Complex Instruction Status Norms and Roles Multiple Ability Curriculum

Status An agreed upon social ranking in which it is agreed that it is better to be of a higher rank than a lower rank. Academic Status ● Societal Status ● Peer Status ● How have you seen status play out in your classroom?

How can we see status playing out in a classroom? Open Sharing

Students (and adults!) need to be taught how to work in a group. We can’t assume students know/remember expectations for working in a group. ● Students come into the classroom thinking they should play a particular role. We ● need to give them a different role to play. Students need to know what it looks like/sounds like to work in a group equitably. ●

Strategies for “treating” status Randomly & publicly seat students Assign Groupwork Roles & Set Groupwork Norms Participation Quiz Assigning Competence

Assigning Competence What does it mean to be smart in ….(Art? Math? Science? Music? English?) Assigning competence: Changing students’ perceptions of themselves as smart. ● Changing other students’ perceptions of any student as smart. ● This starts with the teacher: You must have a multi-dimensional perspective on what it means to be “good” at ● your subject area. You must publicly acknowledge to students when they are displaying that ● “smartness”.

Why assign competence publicly? The goal is to change other students’ perceptions of how that student is smart AND Change that student’s perception of how s/he is smart.

Design your own Smartnesses Survey Group Task: ● Use your given content area Develop a list of “smartnesses” for that content area. ● Final Product: A list of “smartnesses” you can use to create your own survey. ● “Smartnesses” show a variety of ways to demonstrate competence in that content ● area.

Groupwork “works” when... Status hierarchies are minimized ● Everyone has a “role” to play and norms have been established ● ● The task is “groupworthy”

Participation Quiz 1. Design a group task that needs minimal teacher support (ie, review) 2. Launch task by telling students you are looking for 3 groupwork norms a. Put norms on the board (something you know they need to work on) b. Looking for visual and verbal evidence (body language and words) 3. Record how groups are demonstrating norms - PUBLICLY 4. Stop half-way through and summarize what you are seeing. “I noticed this group demonstrated the first norm by….” Set goals for groups. “I’d like to see this group…” 5. Allow groups to continue working on task AND improving their groupwork skills Note: Always write “evidence” under group name and never attribute to individual student during a participation quiz. This is about how the group interacts together.

Resources Designing Groupwork by Elizabeth Cohen and Rachel Lotan (2nd edition) “Heterogenius” Classrooms by Maika Watanabe Smarter Together: Collaboration and Equity in the Elementary Classroom by Featherstone et al. Website page with LOTS of resources related to Complex Instruction (but focused on math): http://nrich.maths.org/7011