Resource Round-Up: Group Work

Who hasn't experienced this before?

Depending on who you are in the group, most group work is either a piece of cake because you didn't do anything or frustrating because you either did everything (even if others wanted to help) or tried to help but one person hijacked the whole project.  

This Resource Round-Up is devoted to ideas that will help students actually work as a group during collaborative work:


Let's start with expectations.  Setting clear expectations even before group work begins is important.  It lets all students know not only what is expected of them but also what they are accountable for in a group setting.  Here are a few ideas:

GROUPS

Workstation Expectations

Effort Level

Before group work begins, you can also discuss what types of conversations will happen when collaborating:

Meaningful Conversations

Purposeful Talk

Accountable Talk

This step is one of my favorites: after doing group work, debrief with a group work interview.  Students can interview each other about what went well, what was difficult, and why we do group work.  By sharing their experiences, the class can collaboratively celebrate the positives of group work while making goals to improve the "roadblocks" they came across.

Do you have a favorite group work blog post, resource, or pin?  Let us know in the comments below.