My Real-Life Example of Group Roles
(Complete with Slideshow!)
Grade 2/3 students - Group roles in mind and Polydrons at hand!
So when all is said and done, are group roles REALLY that helpful?! Well, yes! Here is why group roles has become such an important skill that I have in my "Bag of Tricks" as a teacher...
It all came to me while I was in my first placement of teachers college. I was having an amazing time with my class of eager-to-please grade 2 and 3 students, but I had always noticed they had a rough time when they were asked to work in groups. On day, I had the "brilliant" idea of making the students work in groups for a math lesson. They would be using a new and fun math manipulative called “Polydrons”. I figured that many of the students would want to have as much hands-on time with the manipulatives as possible, but I thought that they would be fine in collaborating with their groups for such a short, 40 minute period. I began the lesson by simply stating my expectations of the groups, which included basic instructions such as “everyone must participate”. Unfortunately with grade 2 students, it was hard for many of them to allow others to take control in their groups. The lesson fell apart and I found myself doing more behavioral management than teaching. When the period was over, all I could do was hope that my AT hadn't noticed what chaos had just ensued for the past 40 minutes! There had to be a way to keep order when having students work in groups!
The next day when working the same manipulatives, I decided that I would split the groups into roles that were appropriate for each student’s strengths. I chose builders (of the polydrons), recorders, checkers, and overseers. I discussed the expectations of each role, and assigned roles to each student in the pre-decided groups. Once each student understood their designated role in the team and got to work, I found there were far fewer interpersonal issues arising. Once each student was given an appropriate role, the groups worked with a math focus. After this experience with group roles, I knew I had found an amazing skill that would work with any group of students!
I would highly recommend using group roles for students of all grades. They help students focus on the task, while allowing strengths to flourish.
- Cristina Hall
It all came to me while I was in my first placement of teachers college. I was having an amazing time with my class of eager-to-please grade 2 and 3 students, but I had always noticed they had a rough time when they were asked to work in groups. On day, I had the "brilliant" idea of making the students work in groups for a math lesson. They would be using a new and fun math manipulative called “Polydrons”. I figured that many of the students would want to have as much hands-on time with the manipulatives as possible, but I thought that they would be fine in collaborating with their groups for such a short, 40 minute period. I began the lesson by simply stating my expectations of the groups, which included basic instructions such as “everyone must participate”. Unfortunately with grade 2 students, it was hard for many of them to allow others to take control in their groups. The lesson fell apart and I found myself doing more behavioral management than teaching. When the period was over, all I could do was hope that my AT hadn't noticed what chaos had just ensued for the past 40 minutes! There had to be a way to keep order when having students work in groups!
The next day when working the same manipulatives, I decided that I would split the groups into roles that were appropriate for each student’s strengths. I chose builders (of the polydrons), recorders, checkers, and overseers. I discussed the expectations of each role, and assigned roles to each student in the pre-decided groups. Once each student understood their designated role in the team and got to work, I found there were far fewer interpersonal issues arising. Once each student was given an appropriate role, the groups worked with a math focus. After this experience with group roles, I knew I had found an amazing skill that would work with any group of students!
I would highly recommend using group roles for students of all grades. They help students focus on the task, while allowing strengths to flourish.
- Cristina Hall