Observation
When I was at my school, I observed many different situations. I observed students learning, using technology, interacting with each other, transitioning between classes, and many more things. I decided to focus on how students work within their groups because, going into this experience, I was concerned on how I would implement group work in my own classroom. I've always been taught that group work is an important aspect of a lesson as well as an integral part of the school day. In theory, it's a great idea but I hadn't seen it work until this experience. In some of my previous observations, teachers either didn't incorporate group work or the groups were so unfocused nothing was accomplished. During my time at Berewick, I was able to see how groups are used to benefit students as well as the teacher.
The teacher I observed arranged her desks into groups. There were 6 table groups made up of either 4 or 5 desks. The 3 that were placed in the front of the room, closest to the Smart board and white board, had 4 students grouped together. Two of the three in the back of the room seated 5 students and the other one had 4 (placed between the groupings of 5). Having the 3 groups in front that only had 4 students, allowed more room for the teacher to maneuver in front of the class during instruction. The only issue I saw with this set up was that it was sometimes difficult to walk between the two rows. The students would have their legs or books in the aisle which blocked part of the path. When I would visit each table group, I would walk around the edges instead of going through the middle. I was still able to visit each group and allowed students extra room in the aisle.
One of the things I noticed during group work was that the students who were apprehensive to share in front of the whole class, weren’t afraid to during table group discussions. These students seemed to be shy and withdrawn when the teacher was asking for volunteers to answer questions during whole group instruction. However, they were animated when working with their table groups. I observed quiet students leading discussions on ecosystems, decimal multiplication, and how to use a hundredths grid. If it wasn’t for the smaller groups, I never would have known what those students were thinking.
There were some instances of students in groups that weren’t as productive. They either talked about things that weren’t related to the content or didn’t talk to each other at all. When I noticed this happening, I would visit those groups and refocus their attention or ask questions to get them started. Sometimes this worked well and other times, it was challenging. This was really the only downside of groups that I observed.
Overall, what I observed about groups is encouraging to me. While I don’t know what the teacher did at the beginning of the year to set expectations for working in groups, I imagine it included a lot of instruction. I know that getting your students to work well together in groups isn’t going to happen overnight, but I now know that it is possible. I also learned that if I am going to use groups, they need to be fluid. I will need to know my students and work to create the best fit for each group. I need to be aware of the social dynamics and personality differences between my students in order to create the best learning situation.
The teacher I observed arranged her desks into groups. There were 6 table groups made up of either 4 or 5 desks. The 3 that were placed in the front of the room, closest to the Smart board and white board, had 4 students grouped together. Two of the three in the back of the room seated 5 students and the other one had 4 (placed between the groupings of 5). Having the 3 groups in front that only had 4 students, allowed more room for the teacher to maneuver in front of the class during instruction. The only issue I saw with this set up was that it was sometimes difficult to walk between the two rows. The students would have their legs or books in the aisle which blocked part of the path. When I would visit each table group, I would walk around the edges instead of going through the middle. I was still able to visit each group and allowed students extra room in the aisle.
One of the things I noticed during group work was that the students who were apprehensive to share in front of the whole class, weren’t afraid to during table group discussions. These students seemed to be shy and withdrawn when the teacher was asking for volunteers to answer questions during whole group instruction. However, they were animated when working with their table groups. I observed quiet students leading discussions on ecosystems, decimal multiplication, and how to use a hundredths grid. If it wasn’t for the smaller groups, I never would have known what those students were thinking.
There were some instances of students in groups that weren’t as productive. They either talked about things that weren’t related to the content or didn’t talk to each other at all. When I noticed this happening, I would visit those groups and refocus their attention or ask questions to get them started. Sometimes this worked well and other times, it was challenging. This was really the only downside of groups that I observed.
Overall, what I observed about groups is encouraging to me. While I don’t know what the teacher did at the beginning of the year to set expectations for working in groups, I imagine it included a lot of instruction. I know that getting your students to work well together in groups isn’t going to happen overnight, but I now know that it is possible. I also learned that if I am going to use groups, they need to be fluid. I will need to know my students and work to create the best fit for each group. I need to be aware of the social dynamics and personality differences between my students in order to create the best learning situation.