TPE of the Week

Elementary Teaching Performance Expectation 11: Social Environment

For my Teaching Tip of the Week, I decided to explore an idea that is not implemented in the classroom that I work in, which is unfortunate. So I wanted to address it because I find that it is an important skill and tool that is highly underrated in the classroom that I’m in. I selected Social Environment for this week during my observation to highlight the importance of collaborative learning and the lack of classrooms that allow for it and even discourage it. My partner teacher, who is a wonderful teacher, has been teaching in Kindergarten and 1st grade classrooms for over 20 years. However, she does not seem to allow for the children to socialize or even work in groups when doing their work. They are encouraged to work independently, and most importantly, quietly. For the TPE that I chose, the first question of the week asked educators, “How do you establish a positive environment for effective group learning? What distinct roles must be enacted to make the outcome productive?” Collaboration isn’t encouraged in the classroom, discussions are put to a stop and I have yet to witness a group activity. Even when the students are discussing the subject matter, material that is related to the information being taught, they are discouraged from talking about it. I understand that it’s hard to keep young students engaged in material, especially when they want to chat with their friends. But working in groups can be productive when properly structured.

In high school we were introduced to group work, and by that point in my life, I found it inconvenient, as I had done well working independently for so long. It was very difficult to rely on other people when I just wanted to do the work myself. But it’s important that we get students used to group work at an early age and get them career ready by the time they graduate. This brings up another question asked within week 11: “When using cooperative learning, what intervention strategies insure participation of all students?” I always wanted to take on the role of group leader and dictate what each person would do and how to do it. This was poor management in my opinion, because I wasn’t allowing for everyone’s voice to be heard. So how as educators can we ensure that each student is participating? One idea that I have seen was that a group transcriber would be assigned by the teacher. And the student assigned would usually be the member in the group that was the most reserved, or most quiet in group collaboration and discussion. This appointed group transcriber would write down the key points of the group discussion and ask the group questions assigned by the teacher. This way, the students wasn’t forced to be a loud voice in the conversation, but be a part of it in some way. I found this technique to be very useful for those students who don’t feel comfortable speaking up in fear that they may be wrong or not heard by the group. It forces them to participate, but doesn’t put them in an uncomfortable situation.

Collaboration is a key tool in almost every career, so why is it discouraged in the classroom? I think that in my classroom in particular, the teachers do not want the students getting off task, and they feel that as the noise level rises, their interest in the material lessens. Even if a student gets too loud answering a question because they’re excited that they know the answer, they’re told to quiet down, or to “stop yelling”. This makes me sad because I see students getting excited about the material, but they’re told they’re doing something wrong at the same time. So it’s hard to find the balance between productive group collaboration and off topic discussions. So rather than discussing the material, I find that a group project or activity would be more effective. Getting them to build something, or solve a puzzle, or complete a scavenger hunt by answering questions or solving problems could be effective and productive group learning. It’s important that we get students excited about the material so that when they’re discussing the topic, they’re actually discussing the topic. Group activities and projects where students work together to reach a common goal is appropriate use of group time.