Group Work

Students in my classroom seem passive, they rarely ask questions to clarify information they are told. Since it is the beginning of the year, my teacher is working to change that mentality. She has been putting them in groups so they can generate explanations/ideas so they understand the content. In groups though some students withdrawl and are disrespectful about others opinions. To combat that my teacher makes the students give her explanations so she can assess them briefly. This is effective because students gain different perspectives by discussing events/topics aloud, and the students can construct their own knowledge which makes it meaningful to the student.

Discussions are valuable for students because they get to understand other perspectives, and they learn to work in groups and respect one another. As a student teacher in the classroom I try to ask questions to guide students onto the right track, but their discussions are engaging and interesting so my interest in students’ ideas are natural. I always listen if they talk to me directly, but I try to listen as often as possible if they are not addressing me. I try to model problem solving processes by asking students questions that may contradict what they say, so they have to think about problem solving the contradiction. It also helps them understand how conflicts in history arise if you ask students guided questions, which involves a higher level of thought from the student. Also in the “good” groups, each child participates and it gives them opportunities to learn visually, auditory, and kinesthetically. They have the chance to reflect and focus their thoughts individually after the group portion of the class is finished. The teacher does the best she can do have the kids involved hands-on, although this is not always possible. Yet, it can sometimes be difficult to clearly understand so after the discussion in groups, I take the time to clarify the concept for students. But want can a teacher do when students refuse to work in groups? What can teachers do when kids are disrespectful? What can I do as a student-teacher in this class?

My experience so far as been rewarding and I am developing relationships with students, which is helpful to me because I can begin to understand where the student is coming from. I am with a great group of students and am lead by a great classroom teacher, so I am looking forward to a positive experience this semester! I’m pretty excited about finally having the chance to teach. This is the only issue I’ve had come up though that’s concerned me.