Blog Post 3: Collaboration

Collaboration is an education buzz word that we use often, but I think that sometimes we use it to sound good.  As teachers, we are expected to collaborate and we are expected to get our students to effectively collaboration.  And as an elementary school teacher, I like to keep my students in collaborative working groups.  Just like Aaron Brengard, I consider collaboration as an essential part of my classroom culture.  But, I know that sometimes the collaboration is not beneficial to my students.  Often times, one student ends up doing most of the work while other students goof off.  I like the Collaboration Contract presented in Paul Curtis’ article.  I think collaboration is very good for students if completed correctly. 

                After looking at the New Tech Collaboration Rubric and the 3-5 Collaboration Rubric, I felt like many of the elements were important for my current class.  I think the 3-5 Collaboration Rubric is written in child friendly terms.  This is extremely important because students are able to read the rubric and understand what is expected of them.  One important element of this rubric includes the “work together as a team” and “helps the team” sections.  This section was especially important for my class this year because I have a few students who are underachievers.  These students are extremely smart, but will sit back and allow others to complete all of their work.  Another important element of the 3-5 Collaboration Rubric is “makes and follows agreements.”  I especially like this part because it gives the students a sense of ownership for their groups, which can help with participation.  Students will help develop the rubric so they will be more apt to work hard to complete their collaborative group take.  The final important element is the “Respects Others” section on the 3-5 Collaboration Rubric.  In order to make collaborative groups work, students must be respectful towards each other at all times.  I am constantly saying to a few of my students, “be nice to your classmate.”  So I think that it would be helpful to have this element as part of the rubric.

                Students can participate in collaboration in many ways in the classroom.  One way to use collaboration in the classroom is to let students sit in collaborative groups.  The groups can be chosen by you so that you can monitor which students are sitting and working together.  Thankfully, at Roebuck, we are using the Engineering Design Process as many ways as possible.  This helps to provide another opportunity to use collaboration.  Students work collaboratively in science using the EDPs.  Most of our science includes a hands-on approach which students will work together.    Students can also work collaboratively in other subjects on PBL, research projects, and classwork.  When students have the opportunity to talk about their learning to their peers, they sometimes gain more knowledge and/or clear up any misunderstandings Collaborative work is an awesome strategy for students to use and PBL gives plenty of opportunity for students to collaborate.