- Jul 9

Mission Collaboration

This summer I have been thinking a lot about my mission as a teacher. Like many beginning teachers, I spent hours working outside of contract time and had few boundaries in place, thinking that this is what I have to do to be good at my job. If my students were successful, then I was successful - and I would do whatever it took to help them be successful. So much of my identity was tied to other’s performance. It was an exhausting space to live in.

Thankfully, I dumped that mindset for a new one.

My mission is to help students improve their relationship with math and see themselves as capable of doing math by: 1) collaborating, 2) having multiple opportunities to show what they know, 3) experience real world problems in the classroom, 4) have creative and engaging ways to practice skills, and 5) practice reading and writing in the math classroom.

I know what success means for my students: to improve their relationship with math. All I want them to do is move the needle. I also know how I help them move that needle. Over the next few posts, I want to take a deep dive into the 5 policies and practices I engage in to help my students move the needle. While I have previously touched on a few of these practices, they are multi-layered and complex and deserve more attention. My goal for these posts is to share not only the actions and activities I use with my students, but also discuss the rationale WHY I use them. One of the most important lessons I have learned in education is to be intentional in whatever practices you use in the classroom.

This week I want to focus on collaboration. While this is something I value in my classroom, I have to say that it is not something that I feel I am very good at “teaching.” I often rely on my students’ past experiences to work with others to carry them through. However, after reading Math-ish by Jo Boaler I am excited to put in some new practices in conjunction with some of my favorite collaboration activities to focus on group roles. And the good news is, I am sharing them with all of you!

Group Roles

Jo Boaler presents these roles in her book, Math-ish, and of all of the group roles I have read through over the years, these are my favorite. They are inclusive, well defined, and does a better job ensuring all members of the group can contribute to the work. In my previous experiences with group roles, they often had titles of "recorder" and "secretary", which in my experience led more to one person completing the work in the group. I have not tried out these roles yet in my classroom, but I think they will change the group dynamics in my classroom.

Compass Points

This is one of my favorite activities to do at the beginning of the year. This activity takes personal preferences and asks students how they fit into a group. It is a fantastic way to get to know the make up of the students in your room and can definitely help you choose the best groups. To do this activity I hang posters around the room with North, South, East, and West at the top. I then project and explain what each direction means: North’s tend to be the go-getter’s and action based person, East’s are the big picture thinkers while West’s are focused on details and the South’s make sure everyone’s voices are heard. Students will then go to the poster that best describes their preferences and then I ask them these questions for the group to discuss and write responses on their poster paper:

What are the strengths of your style? (4 adjectives)
What are the limitations of your style? (4 adjectives)
What do other directions need to know about you so you can work together effectively?
Which style do you find the easiest to work with? Why?
Which style do you find the most challenging to work with? Why?

After the poster activity, I have students complete an individual reflection in which they answer the following questions:

What is your style?
What is something you learned about yourself in this activity?
What is something you learned about your classmates in this activity?
What is the best combination of styles for a group? Does it matter?
How can you avoid being driven crazy by another direction?

I typically do this activity on the 2nd day of school as a lead in to Ormie the Pig and I use the data I get to help me put seating charts together.

Ormie the Pig

If you want to know what a cartoon pig has to do with math class, read my previous post. This is another activity I love to do at the beginning of the year, following the Compass Points activity. It is a perfect follow up to Compass Points because they will have to work in groups to define math, reflect on the video and then redefine math.

100 Numbers

This activity is another fun one and it is great to have the class develop group behaviors. It is perfect to do after Ormie as well. Here is what you need:

Different color highlighters or markers for each member in the group
A copy of the 100 Numbers paper per group
Timer

All students have to do is find each number 1 - 100 in order on the paper. Set a timer for 3 minutes and encourage students to take turns in their group finding the numbers. After the first 3 minutes ask what number each group is on and if anyone has found a pattern. Reset the timer until groups are finished. After every group is done ask, “What does good group work look like?” Students can record their answers on the back of the numbers paper. I ask groups to share one idea at a time and I record their answers until every thought is recorded. I then make their responses into a poster.

4 4s

I haven’t done this activity in a while, but it is such a fun way to get students communicating and being creative. In teams, students have to create expressions for every number between 1 and 20 using only four 4’s and any operation. You can do this on paper or on whiteboards. If I have time this year, I might give this one a go on the second day of class.

Final Thoughts on Collaboration

I have found that starting the year with intentional collaboration activities sets the tone for the rest of the year. I am looking forward to implementing the group roles in these activities as well as different tasks throughout the year.