Groups, part 4 (setting them up)

Hello everyone,

Some more on group work.

Most of you have been trained in Reciprocal Teaching, so there's not much need to go into that in detail. If you don't know how to do it, let me know, and I'll go over it with you and give you some materials.

Reciprocal teaching is generally used for reading/literacy activities, and it is very useful for times when you are having the students do some routine reading and you have trained them to work in groups to do it. The same structure can be used for writing activities as well. "Back in the day," it was called "cooperative learning," and I frequently used it for editorial groups in my English classes. (Students read and graded the early drafts of their essays before writing the final drafts which I graded.) In my film production classes, students worked in production groups, structurally based on some of the major assignments one might find in a normal studio environment (producer, director, writer, dir. of photography). In my drama classes, groups were based entirely on the size of the cast of a given performance; in full production, students worked in a variety of different groups, both in front of and behind the curtain. If I were teaching science, I would have my students in groups to work on experiments; in social studies, students would produce group projects and performances; in math, students would work in tutorial groups; in music, I would use the natural division of the sections.

In each case, the size and purpose of the group may vary, but some principles will remain the same.

1. EVERY GROUP MUST HAVE A LEADER. (There should probably be an alternate, too, when the leader is absent. You might have a structure in place for the group to pick an alternate on days when all the leaders are unavailable.) You may choose the leaders, or you may have the groups choose the leaders (I worked both ways depending on what sort of purpose the group was working for).

2. THE LEADERS MUST BE THE ONLY PEOPLE AUTHORIZED TO COMMUNICATE WITH YOU. Give the leader extra credit or extra power for the extra work, but do not allow the group to circumvent the leader. This is important for two reasons: first, it gives you someone that is always accountable; second, it transfers much work from you to the students, where it is better placed.

3. THE GROUP MUST BE ACCOUNTABLE TO YOUR RUBRIC. How that accountability is set up may vary, but the group must be accountable.

4. EVERY INDIVIDUAL IN THE GROUP MUST BE ACCOUNTABLE BOTH TO THE GROUP AND TO YOU. This is harder, but we have discussed it in previous emails. You choose how you want it to happen. Everyone may get the same grade; the leader may give individual grades; the group may elect to eject members, who then are given zeros; everyone may get both an individual and a group grade; the group may grade the leader. In group presentations, every member of the group may be required to answer questions from the class or the teacher. Feel free to experiment and adapt the circumstances to your personality as well as the needs of the assignment.

5. BE VERY CLEAR ON WHAT YOU WANT TO HAVE HAPPEN, ON WHO THE LEADER IS, ON WHAT THE GROUP MUST ACHIEVE, AND ON HOW THE GRADES WILL HAPPEN.

6. DO NOT DO ANYTHING THAT THE GROUP IS CAPABLE OF DOING. It's best if the students are capable of setting up the groups and functioning within their own decisions. If you have to set the groups up, you should still leave them to do what they are capable of doing. Let it be the group leader's decision that they need your help, not usually yours.

7. IF NECESSARY, TRAIN THE STUDENTS TO WORK IN THE GROUPS. Practice the behaviors that you expect from them. Don't assume that they automatically know how to create and operate within groups. If your class needs to change their seating to alternate between direct instruction and group work, have them practice how to do it quickly and quietly.

Jeff Combe