Getting Students To Work Together Cooperatively

If you ask any student if they are familiar with group work, I'm sure all will say yes. I was no different. What I had never heard of was cooperative learning. I had never heard of it, seen it implemented, or had any idea of what it was like. This semester has opened my eyes to cooperative learning and I'm so glad that it did. Cooperative learning is not just a group project, but so much more than that. It teaches students how to work together and be responsible. Students also learn that they need to be accountable for themselves otherwise their group will fail. This is an essential skill that students must learn because it really relates to the real world. I think that this is a skill that all students need to have and be able to use. Cooperative learning is so great because it can be used in all subjects and also enhances their knowledge while building essential life social skills.

Click on the picture to watch a very informative video on cooperative leaning !

Teachers, why use cooperative learning ?! Here is why !!!!

My first experience with cooperative learning was when we did a jigsaw activity as a class. I thought that this was such a unique idea because everyone was responsible for certain things and required everyones participation. This was much different than my past experience of group work where one or two people end up doing all of the work. My next experience was during fieldwork when I needed to create a Cooperative learning lesson plan. I ended up having my students create a timeline. Every student was responsible. Throughout this lesson I tired to instill in my students not only the information regarding the American Revolution, but also how important team work and individual accountability is. However, I do wish that I would have better know the students so that I could have created better groups with diverse students. I think this is a very important aspect of Cooperative learning.  Robert Stahl (1994)  says "Teachers should organize the three-, four-, or five-member groups so that students are mixed as heterogeneously as possible, first according to academic abilities, and then on the basis of ethnic back- grounds, race, and gender." I completely agree with this and believe this makes Cooperative learning more effective. 


Here is my link to my Cooperative lesson- teachers feel free to use it in your own classroom and adjust as needed !

Reference 

Stahl, R. (1994). Cooperative learning in social studies: A handbook for teachers. Menlo Park, Calif.: Addison-Wesley.