Comments on: Thoughts on Grouping Students

By: Jason Bedell

Jason Bedell — Thu, 06 May 2010 12:28:14 +0000

Thanks for the tip Jerry. I always appreciate your resources.

By: Cybrary Man - Jerry Blumengarten

Cybrary Man - Jerry Blumengarten — Wed, 05 May 2010 02:34:14 +0000

AS @mbteach wrote so eloquently it takes time to get the groups to function correctly and indeed it does take some modeling.

As for competition my Board Games cooperative learning activity was a lot of fun for the students:
http://cybraryman.com/cooperative.html

By: Jason Bedell

Jason Bedell — Wed, 05 May 2010 01:56:57 +0000

Thanks Mary Beth (Do you go by Mary or Mary Beth?),

With class sizes as large as they are, I could definitely see sub-groups at times within houses, if I stuck to the 4 house idea.
If you have any of those group building activities to share, I would appreciate it. I see getting the students to bond with those students they are not comfortable with as one of the most difficult aspects of implementation.

I do plan on trying to make the work authentic and having students present/publish whenever possible. I appreciate the ramblings.

By: Mary Beth Hertz

Mary Beth Hertz — Wed, 05 May 2010 01:28:22 +0000

Jason,

If you introduce the idea with a Hogwarts theme as the ‘hook’ I think you’ll get more buy in from the kids. As a former Science teacher who had students work extensively in heterogenous groups my suggestion would be to take baby steps. Having students work with other students who they don’t usually socialize with requires modeling, practice and opportunities for success with simple tasks before biting off anything big. I’ve done simple group building activities just to warm them up to engaging classmates they don’t usually talk with.

What if you had houses that had more than one group? Then there would be competition including more than one group so they could share that responsibility. As far as competition goes, sometimes just authenticity can provide enough competition (meaning the work gets shared outside the classroom walls).

Now I’m just rambling. Thanks for the thoughtful post!

By: Jason Bedell

Jason Bedell — Mon, 03 May 2010 21:25:33 +0000

Thanks Aaron,
I’ve been following your blog for a while. I agree we definitely need to be flexible. If an idea isn’t working, we need to stop using it or modify it and try again. I’m not interested in tracking the students (good group, bad group, etc…); what appeals to me is really the small-group, family dynamic. I’m also hoping it will give the students some more freedom to really be creative and do amazing things. I think we (school) tends to limit kids. If we give a student a rubric that clearly delineates exactly what one must do to achieve an A, why bother going above and beyond?

By: Aaron Eyler

Aaron Eyler — Mon, 03 May 2010 21:20:14 +0000

Jason,

No grouping is inherently bad so long as it is flexible. The biggest problem is that people associate grouping with tracking. Tracking is a terrible practice (http://bit.ly/buTL3D), but grouping leads me to believe that students would be moved and maneuvered according to their best interest. So long as you don’t say to them “these are your houses until _______” I think the idea would work out great.

No idea is bad if it provides flexibility, which includes the ability to abandon the idea if it doesn’t work.

Best of luck.

AE
.-= Aaron Eyler´s last blog ..Multiple-Choice Tests: Skill or Excuse? =-.

By: Jason Bedell

Jason Bedell — Mon, 03 May 2010 21:08:09 +0000

Thanks Steve.
I do anticipate push back from both parents and students if I try this. Change is difficult and my grading policy it a leap-of-faith for them as well.(See post “New Idea for Grading” http://wp.me/pAx3Z-5W)
I do think that once they get used to it, if it hasn’t failed, the students will be better for it.

By: Steve Davis

Steve Davis — Mon, 03 May 2010 20:59:55 +0000

I completely agree with you!

Competition is not inherently a negative concept; rather, it can be used positively to raise you to a higher level.

Regarding the Hogwarth’s model…Initially, the change to this model will be difficult and result in some students not doing too well (I can only imagine the parent phone calls!)…However, once everybody understands the new concept I think it would work wonderfully!

Parents are often resistant to change, especially if it appears to give students more freedom and chances to get in trouble…I hope I am not that way when my daughter is older!