Contracts-
Mrs. Mitchell introduced contracts to my class during our co-teach lesson. My students were very receptive of the contracts and most of them were reasonable about the rules in groups and how each member should be treated. I had to pause my PBL lesson to teach circles with the rest of my team but when it was time to resume our projects I had to pull the group contracts out to remind my students of the agreements that were made. I had one group that was ready to put a student out because he was making things more difficult than they had to be according to his group. I nicely reminded them about the contracts and had them read over what they agreed on again. The group quickly regrouped but not before they laid down some ground rules for my student who wanted to sell rat meat. Ugh, yes you read it correctly RAT MEAT! Now you know why they wanted to kick him out of the group. Thank God for contracts because my students were able to handle the situation well and quickly went back to work.
I am so glad that the students said no to RAT MEAT!! I have not tried group contracts in my class yet, but I have heard many great stories like this where they came in handy.
ReplyDeleteThat is awesome that work contracts are working so well with your students! It is such an effective tool to hold students accountable!
ReplyDeleteI also did contracts with my students for their group projects and had to pull them back out about halfway through the project to remind them of their expectations. My students initially didn't want to evaluate each other, meaning they signed their contracts to say everyone would receive the same grade on the final product; not everyone was a fan of this in the end, but as they couldn't get a unanimous vote, it couldn't be changed. The more experience they have with contracts, the more they will pay attention, though. I'm curious where your student was getting the rat meat to sell.
ReplyDeleteHi Makisha,
ReplyDeleteI laughed out loud when I read "Rat Meat" was a menu item one of your students through out to his group during your pbl work time. I am glad that the concepts of work contracts worked with your students to help hold them accountable for their independent work and to help provide support for their problem solving and collaboration.
Sincerely,
Dawn