Cooperation is Key!

This is a picture of the PIGS model! 

I'm going to tell you what I predict that each of the terms of "PIGS" means below.

I think positive interdependence means that students feel good about the teacher-student collaboration in the classroom. That means that the students would feel supported, but also feel that they can do things on their own. This creates a positive interdependence. I think individual accountability is when a person takes responsibility for themselves. I think that group processing is when a small group of students is in the process of learning new information together, so they process all the information together. I think that social skills are the necessary skills that a student need to interact with their peers. This could range from holding conversation to being able to sit on the carpet during story time. 

Speaking of Social Skills...

This is a picture from an NPR article that I read this week for this course! The article stressed the importance of implementing Social Interactive Model/Cooperative Learning. This framework is important because it teaches social-emotional literacy. This will help students in the long run to regulate their emotions and improve their academics. It teaches children social skills that they can carry with them for the rest of their lives. 

Working Together? Let's Try Cooperative Learning!

This week, we watched the above video to learn more about cooperative learning and see it in action!

Based on this video and all the other resources (such as this website here) I was provided with on cooperative learning, I've gathered that cooperative learning is an approach that requires students to collaborate in small groups where everyone has a role to fulfill and a common task to complete. This helps students take responsibility for their own learning, which is one of the key elements of cooperative learning: individual accountability. I've learned that there are 5 of these key elements, another one being positive interdependence. This term means that the students are successfully working together and want to use their strengths to help the group succeed. Since they're all working as a group, another important element is promotive interaction, which is the idea that students will be committed not only to their own goals, but to the goals of their group members as well. To function as a group, this approach emphasizes the development of social skills as another one of the key elements. As students work in small groups, they're learning leadership skills, trust, communication, and conflict-management. All of these skills are crucial throughout their lives, making this approach very beneficial. The final element to the cooperative learning approach is group processing, which requires the students to reflect on how they functioned as a group and how they could improve for the next group work activity. 

Let's Put On Our Thinking Hats!

The video above explains the "Six Thinking Hats" activity, which prompts students to think from different perspective so that they can make the best decision possible after careful deliberation.

The video above show the "Six Thinking Hats" in action! 

This showed me how students learn to use this method with a teacher's assistance. This activity displays the students' critical thinking skills, challenges them to gain new perspectives, and asks them to consider what may be the best decision after sorting through all the different viewpoints. I think that this activity is a great way to help students work in small groups and learn how to balance differing perspectives, while keeping an open mind. 

Until Next Time!

I hope you had fun reading this post and I can't wait to update you again soon!