Collaborative reading and writing are big parts of my classroom, so I was glad to see Gallagher touting their importance. Though I have always had the desire to utilize various sized groupings, as a younger teacher, I had problems giving over control. Learning to do so has rewarded me immensely. Probably the biggest factor Gallagher doesn't dwell on is the need for the teacher to be comfortable in the process, able to fade from the fore. Much like dogs can smell fear, students can spot an insincere attempt.
I agree that group size does matter. I have found that, as Gallagher suggests, the optimal size depends upon both the task and the students. 5 is usually the biggest group I allow, but 3 is usually the magic number. And unless I have specific roles outlined for a set group size, I usually allow flexible grouping. I might request, for example, groups of 3 or 4. This makes students feel more in control of their groups, and I am often surprised by how many groups of 3 get very judicious about adding a 4th, some going so far as to briefly interview prospective members to see how much work they are willing to do. I must admit -- I like that.
I'm not so fond of pre-assigning roles, but I do like to layer the tasks. I like to begin by having students do something on their own, before I even suggest that collaboration might be coming. This way, every student brings something to the group. On occasion, I even lift members from each group to put in a focus group at the end, so the whole class can see what happened during the period in other groups. The fishbowl is good for this. Another interesting animal for whole class collaboration is the socratic seminar. This is collaborative discussion at its finest.
I am looking forward to trying a couple of the strategies mentioned in the chapter to see what I can add to my arsenal.
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You have some good ideas. However, I think groups larger than 3 are simply too large for 9th and 10th graders. With groups of 4 or more, there is always at least one slacker. I agree that it's optimal to give an individual assignment before the group work so that everyone enters the group prepared to contribute something. I typically make that a separate grade so that I have evidence of how much effort each individual contributed.
ReplyDeleteOne differentiation that is very important to me personally is to ALWAYS give students the option of working alone. I will tailor the assignment if they work alone, or lessen the assignment so that it's do-abble for one person. This is an important option to offer both for the hard-working kids who are continually "used" by their classmates and for the kids who just plain hate group work.
I generally allow groups of more or less, but only with approval. Sometimes, when I have a kid who ALWAYS wants to work alone, I force the issue a bit more, just for their own good.
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