Cooperative+Learning

=Read and Reflect= My purpose for using cooperative learning in the classroom is for each student to get a new and different perspective from another person in the classroom. I use a lot of information group work, especially with the way my classroom is set up. I have tables with 4 students to a table. My students are trained to ask each other for help first, and then to a teacher. This has built positive relationships with each other, as well as with me. My students use cooperative learning almost every day. It is easy to do in a foreign language classroom. They are expected to begin and end the class with flashcard review with someone at their table. When we practice Spanish grammar or read in Spanish, they can turn to someone at their table to discuss strategy. I walk around keeping them focused and answering questions to groups or individuals. I think it works well in my Spanish classroom because we use almost daily. I encourage them to ask their classmates and they trust each other. Reviewing for exams is a great method I have used cooperative learning. There are always vocab words that they need to memorize and by practicing with their elbow partner, their test scores go up and their self-confidence also. With experience and time, I have learned that cooperative learning works best with very specific directions. Students know what is expected of them and what they need to do. It does help that my Spanish class has always been a type of honor class. My students have been and are dedicated. After reading the text, my question would be how to use formal groups effectively in the classroom. I have learned that some assignments cannot be too long or too short because students lose focus. Another questions is how to get “all” students involved. There are always some students that just go along and do not contribute or participate.

=Apply and Reflect=

After using Google Docs, this could be a useful tool. I have wanted to assign a new task to students where they could contribute new study techniques, add websites, create study guides, and other helpful information for other students in the classroom. This could be an easy to complete this task. My only concerns would be if students had emails and if they had computers at home.