Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Cooperative Learning: An End-of-Year Strategy

The end of the year is getting closer and the use of Cooperative Learning could be a strategy to help keep your students engaged.  Cooperative Learning has long been one of the best practices used by our district.  Here are some tips from SPS teachers that could facilitate the use of Kagan Cooperative Learning.

Follow the structure closely, having PIES embedded will provide:

·         Positive Interdependence: Is a gain for one, a gain for another? Is help necessary?

·         Individual Accountability:  Is individual public performance required?

·         Equal Participation: How equal is the participation?

·         Simultaneous Interaction: What percent are overtly active at once?

When introducing a new structure or one not used frequently, teach the structure using non -content material. Students can understand the structure directions then focus on the content material.

Think about how you would like to establish teams (heterogeneous teams, random teams, student selected teams, or homogenous teams).   

Keep in mind that all libraries in the SPS District have Kagan Cooperative Learning resources for teachers to check out.

Listed below is the homepage for Kagan Cooperative Learning. This site is primarily a resource for purchasing Kagan materials and training.  However, two features that could be really helpful for teachers are the Online Magazine and the Discussion board.

The Online Magazine has several departments to peruse, but some personal favorites are:

·         Featured Structures

·         Teacher and Training Tips

·         Tech Tips

·         Brain Matters

The Discussion Board is a blog that addresses questions about the use of Cooperative Learning.  There are responses from other educators as well as the Kagan staff.   Some examples of topics are given below.

How to support students with special needs during Kagan Cooperative Learning

Should middle and high school sit in teams?    

Kindergarten ideas