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Using ideas from Universal Design for Learning with all students can make classrooms more welcoming for those with learning disabilities.

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Humans have a tendency to fall into patterns of behavior. For teachers, that means that if we're not careful, we begin to teach things the same way every year. This is comfortable for us, but it can result in a rigid curriculum that may not work for all students-and traditional classrooms are curriculum-centered already, not easily adapted to the differing needs of individual students. Instead, students are required to adapt to the curriculum.

As a special education teacher, part of my job was helping students who had a diagnosed learning disability access the general education curriculum, so I frequently found myself co-teaching with a math or English teacher. When students with learning differences are placed in the general education classroom, they often receive accommodations and services. However, when those accommodations are paired with-and constrained by-a traditional, rigid curriculum, the result can be the opposite of inclusion, in my experience.

Teachers in this situation may become frustrated because trying to accommodate each child individually creates a lot of stress and often an unmanageable workload. Another issue I saw at the middle school level is that despite teachers' best efforts, students with learning differences often feel singled out, and as they get older they may reject accommodations in order to fit in-even though that means forgoing supports that could help meet their learning needs.

The majority of students need something different, but how can you design a curriculum that works for all students-and for the teacher?

In working together, the general education teacher and I would work out ways to flex and adapt our teaching styles to fit our students' needs. As a team, we modified our instruction based on what worked and what didn't. We used what we learned to design instruction that could change based on students' needs.

All of this work was based on the well-known, flexible model called Universal Design for Learning, which can be used in any classroom to make instruction more accessible.

3 Ways to Implement Universal Design for Learning

1. Teach content in many ways: In a traditional classroom, planning for the lesson is done with the "typical" student in mind. Often, there is one way for all students to learn the material, such as a lecture or a slide presentation.

Instead, try to plan the lesson with all students in mind. Survey students to find out what they already know and questions they have about the new topic. Use that information to scaffold instruction and make lessons more relevant to students. You can also vary the methods that you use to deliver the direct instruction portion of your lesson-try showing a demonstration or video clip for one lesson, and have students participate in stations or listen to a podcast for another.

If possible, use more than one modality within a lesson, and think about supports that students may need for learning. If students are moving around the room, have clearly defined procedures and a goal at each learning center. If they're listening to you or a podcast, it may be helpful to provide an outline where they can add notes or sketch visuals while they listen. If they're reading texts, you can allow them to partner read or use technology to adjust the font and text size.

2. Provide choices to sustain student engagement: Allow students to choose an activity. For guided practice, they could decide whether to answer questions independently and receive feedback, play a game, do a role play, or practice in a group. To demonstrate their understanding of a concept, they could decide whether to create a poster or construct a model, write a paper, make a video or podcast, or do a presentation. Making choices allows them to relate to the content in a way that sparks their interest.

Teachers can often offer students other choices in the classroom, beyond instruction. For example, you may be able to provide flexible seating, allowing students to choose a quiet area of the classroom to finish up an assignment on their own, or to sit at tables for group work, or to grab a seat at a computer to watch a video, print a new worksheet, or read a digital textbook.

3. Provide accommodations for all students: Instead of providing accommodations only to students with an IEP or a 504 plan, think about accommodations that such students frequently need and make them available to all students.

For example, if you often have students who need a copy of the notes, using a site like Blackboard or Google Classroom to post each slide presentation and assignment makes it easier for everyone to access those materials. Students who are absent, lose their copy, or have trouble taking notes can use the online notes and documents. Having documents available online also makes it easier for parents, special education teachers, and paraeducators to help students without making extra work for the teacher.

Another example would be teaching students to use a free text reader like the Read and Write extension for Google Chrome or a voice-to-text tool like those available in Google Documents. Students may choose not to use them, but they're a good option for students who happen to retain information better when they hear it or who have a disability that interferes with writing.

Universal Design for Learning allows instruction to become student-centered by creating a more welcoming and flexible classroom environment and a curriculum that is more accessible to all students. Flexible instruction should lead the student to be more personally accountable for their learning: Instead of the teacher expecting all students to learn in one way, the student sets their own goals for how they will learn the required material.

The student becomes an expert not just on the content but on how they learn. Once the content has faded from their memory, this is the skill that will allow them to acquire the knowledge necessary for whatever endeavor they decide to pursue.

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Ensuring That Instruction Is Inclusive for Diverse Learners

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Using ideas from Universal Design for Learning with all students can make classrooms more welcoming for those with learning disabilities.

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In a recent survey of more than 3,000 undergraduates taking courses online during the COVID-19 pandemic, Vikki Katz, associate professor in the School of Communication and Information at Rutgers University, along with her team of collaborators, found students were unhappy doing large-scale group projects. Students in the study found such projects online so frustrating that Katz and her colleagues recommended, " Group projects: just don't do it."

Katz and her colleagues emphasize that collaborative projects are important. They advocate assigning short-term group projects, managing them with care and making them low stakes. Since students now are contending with such things as illness and even death, unreliable bandwidth, and inadequate work and study environments, it is unfair to burden them with interdependence. They suggest that it is particularly difficult online to manage students who fall away, "ghost" the class for a period of time or fail to contribute, leaving their peers to shoulder the responsibilities for the group. Katz writes, "It serves neither you nor students to spend the semester managing group work dynamics that increase students' anxiety instead of building community."

While many of those suggestions are helpful, we would like to push back at the notion that managing group dynamics doesn't serve students. It is complicated -- almost too complicated. However, guiding students in effective collaboration is one of the best ways to mentor them in this crisis.

We recognize that every instructor now is, like ourselves, facing the fraught and stressful conditions our students face -- and so is everyone else outside academe who is lucky enough to still have the kind of job that can be done remotely. As we write this piece "together" using collaborative writing tools (mostly email and Google Docs) and conferring by Zoom, one of us (Cathy) in Manhattan and the other (Christina) in Brooklyn, we each are hearing our partners in adjacent rooms, also on group video calls. One partner works in finance, the other in publishing. Both are on Zoom constantly, doing exactly the kind of work the students object to: group projects, under harrowing conditions, with stressed-out colleagues, 24-7.

As difficult as it is, now is exactly the time to be helping students learn how to collaborate online. Ditching group projects now, as the world increasingly depends on them, does not prepare our students for life beyond college.

We suggest, instead, that we need to show students why collaboration is important. In most workplace settings, collaboration is necessary so that we can succeed at tasks that no one person could begin to manage alone. Collaboration online is difficult yet essential. That's the message we need to send students early and often, at the beginning of a semester, at the beginning of every class. We also need to reassure students that, as instructors, we have taken on the responsibility of ensuring that the process is equitable and each member of the group will be held accountable for completing work.
Key Recommendations for Course Collaborations
To that end, we offer the following tips for managing online course collaborations. (NB: These also work face-to-face.) Like all participatory, equitable, active learning, the goal of successful collaboration is to help students achieve a sense of agency, even within the strict parameters of a group project.

No. 1: Structure group projects around real-world problems. Not surprisingly, ample educational technology research across many fields shows that students have more positive learning outcomes when they tackle meaningful projects with actual consequences. As Stanford University professor emerita Andrea Lunsford and her team of researchers have found, students' writing improves when they write to communicate beyond the classroom and not simply to the professor for a grade.

We suggest instructors take advantage of the online experience and the complexity of the current crisis. Many are doing this already through service learning. The faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences and the Sawyer Business School at Suffolk University offer examples of digital service learning that connect students to others through meaningful interactions such as developing a social media strategy for a community action group, designing marketing materials for a local nonprofit and gathering data for a community grant application.

No. 2: Create an equitable distribution of labor and assure students that you, not they, are responsible for this aspect of the collaboration. One key difference between student online collaborative projects and those in the workplace is accountability. In a class, too often the most dutiful students are so worried that an irresponsible classmate will bring down their grade that they often jump in and assume the supervisor role. That's unfair to everyone in different ways.

Supplementing students' group meetings with one-on-one meetings with you allows you to ask, "How is group work going? Have you heard from all your peers this week?" You can offer to nudge a missing student, for example, with an email. To tame your own scheduling, give students a spreadsheet, Calendly or another way to set up time for one-on-one meetings with you.

No. 3: Create "pods" large enough to guard against ghosting. We suggest a minimum of three people per group -- that way if one student doesn't hold up their end, the rest of the group can continue moving forward. You might mentor students in these groups by holding office hours with the whole pod. This would help you save some time and labor, and you still can offer students one-on-one meetings with you to supplement pod office hours.

No. 4: Get rid of competition for grades within the group. We recommend contract grading for group projects. Assign each member of the project team a role, specific tasks and deadlines, and promise all the same final grade if they accomplish all they were assigned on deadline. Again, this mirrors contracts in the world beyond school.

No. 5: Assign prework. Increase student engagement by asking students to create their own job descriptions. We like to jump-start this by posting lists of jobs that might be pertinent to group work: e.g., project management, graphic designer, researcher, lead writer, copy editor, proofreader, web manager, community networker. We invite students to use these or add their own. Then, synchronously, during class time, we design a low-stakes activity: "In 90 seconds, jot down your top three ideal jobs/roles on this project, skills you feel confident delivering to the project and your peers." Have students submit this information to you, with their names and availability to meet outside class, so you can better organize teams.

No. 6: Provide a clearly defined project timeline and checkpoints that help students move from one phase to the next. We suggest a number of intermediate deadlines, with clear deliverables for each group member at each milestone. Begin synchronous (in-class) group work with check-in time, where students share tasks completed and next steps. Encourage students to celebrate their successes and to help one another identify what needs to be done next.

No. 7: Be forgiving and adaptable. Both you and your students may need to revise the scope, the timeline and the responsibilities as the project unfolds. Build that flexibility in from the very beginning. In the world beyond college, not every contract is fulfilled, not every project is successful and, as we see in every homeowner reality TV renovation show, surprises come up and the scope of work changes accordingly. Being able to survey a situation and adapt realistically to it is another important skill in college, work and life. A key component of active, participatory, radical pedagogy is learning that everything we do is part of a process and that failure is not a state but an iteration of our learning on the way to greater success in the future.

No. 8: Put that achievement on a résumé! Once your class has completed this tremendous feat, show students how to put their accomplishment on a résumé. Literally. Have students search "workplace collaboration" online to see how many articles, books and management training opportunities exist for improving skills in this area. Job recruiters insist the ability to work well with others is a key skill they seek in new hires. If students succeed in their online collaborative projects, help them describe that success. They have earned it -- and so have you.

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Advice for how to successfully guide students in group work online (opinion)

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In a recent survey of more than 3,000 undergraduates taking courses online during the COVID-19 pandemic, Vikki Katz, associate professor in the School of Communication and Information at Rutgers University, along with her team of collaborators, found students were unhappy doing large-scale group projects.

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Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice?

If not planned for appropriately, group work can create a lot more work than necessary for both students and professor. For students, the disadvantages of group work could mean having to coordinate schedules; arrange meetings; correspond via email, text or phone; make decisions collectively; integrate the contributions of group members; and more. These things can be especially challenging for a nontraditional student population like MSU Denver's-many of our students commute long distances, and have work and family commitments that can make it difficult for them to meet outside of class.

For professors, group work can present challenges such as allocating meeting time during class, and perhaps even having to teach students how to function effectively in teams (even at the college level, this is something that must be taught). Furthermore, figuring out how to assess the process, as well as the product, and determining whether to assign individual or group grades are steps that take time and effort. Last, but not least, and definitely not the most pleasant....everyone must deal with group dynamics.

Take a SIP of This: Effective Group Work: Ensuring Accountability

Here are some strategies to help reduce or mitigate the challenges of group work:

Keep groups small. To ensure active participation and accountability from students, it is better to make small-sized groups; most research suggests 3 to 5 students is optimal. Larger groups are more prone to "free-riders" and require a more active leader to coordinate tasks.

Designate class time for group meetings. This will not only help students who find it difficult to meet outside of class, but it will give you an opportunity to provide support and guidance, as well as to determine if students are on track or in need of substantive support.

Use skills inventories to help teams delegate subtasks. Some students have stronger skills writing, than with public speaking. Others may be more skilled at developing effective PowerPoints as opposed to research. Using a skills inventory list will assist groups in assigning tasks that match group members' strengths. (see https://www.cmu.edu/teaching/designteach/teach/instructionalstrategies/groupprojects/tools/index.html )

Assign roles (e.g., group leader, scheduler) or encourage students to do so.

Point students to digital tools that facilitate remote and/or asynchronous meetings, including Blackboard to which they all have access (also see https://elearningindustry.com/6-online-collaboration-tools-and-strategies-boosting-learning ).

Alert students about time-consuming stages and tasks.

Actively build communication and conflict resolution skills. Take advantage of teachable moments when students are meeting in groups during class. Sit in on group discussions, model effective communications skills, provide guidance for groups that may be experiencing conflict.

Designate time in the project schedule for the group to integrate parts.

Require group self-review. Have group members review their work as a team. You might want to ask how each member contributed, if each person did their fair share, how they think they worked together, what they did well, where they could improve, etc. Give this information at the beginning of the activity so each student is aware that they will be evaluated by their peers. You can create a rubric that addresses the values you wish to see in group work.

Encourage groups to go together to the Writing Center for help with drafting and revising written aspects of their group project.

What is true for individual assignments holds true for group assignments: as a professor, it is important to clearly articulate your objectives, explicitly define the task, clarify your expectations, model high-quality work, and communicate performance criteria so that your students can achieve desired outcomes.

Building individual accountability

Another disadvantage to group work is that students can fully participate in the group assignment, yet still not get the main idea of the project. Therefore, in addition to evaluating the work of the group as a whole, ask individual group members to demonstrate their learning via quizzes, individual writing assignments, weekly journal entries, etc. Not only does this help you monitor student learning, it helps to prevent the "free-rider" phenomenon. Students are considerably less likely to leave all the work to more responsible classmates if they know their individual performance will affect their grade.

Still Thirsty? Take Another SIP of Effective Group Work: Ensuring Accountability

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SIP 4.9 Making Group Work, Work: Ensuring Accountability

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Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice? Why do we assign group work? How does it benefit students? How does it benefit professors? If not planned for appropriately, group work can create a lot more work than necessary for both students and professor. For students, the disadvantages of group work could mean having to coordinate schedules; ...

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When student engagement is going downhill, we often find ourselves reaching for the prop box.

We pull out random videos, time-sucking resources, overly complex activities... anything to get and keep attention. But even these can't compete with our students' pen tricks, doodling, and discussions of what happened at recess. And there's a simple reason why:

Our students aren't engaged by things. They're engaged by us. That's why the best (and easiest) ways to increase student engagement come from you.

We compiled 20 essential strategies that generate lasting engagement, without the flashy props and hours of post-school prep.

Let the countdown begin!

20. Connect learning to the real world

We've all heard it before: "When am I ever going to use this?" Answer this question and you'll engage students with content that they know is relevant to life beyond school. Use anecdotes, case studies, and real-life examples from outside the classroom to root your teaching in "the real world".

19. Engage with your students' interests

Find out what already engages your students and build it into the learning process.

Using mathematics as an example, you could have students chart their performance in a video game over the week. You might even get your budding social media influencers to calculate a projected number of Instagram followers.

Learning what excites your students does more than just engage them. You'll build strong relationships and rapport, too.

18. Fill "dead time"

"Dead time" is any point in a lesson where students are left without something to do. You might be handing out a worksheet, getting a presentation set up, or waiting interminably for a YouTube video to load. These are brief windows that leave just enough time for students to tune out, after which time it can be very difficult to get them back.

Fill these blank spaces with low-order activities to hold students' attention. These should be quick, easy, and require minimal follow-up. For example:

Think Pair Share: students reflect on something, discuss with a partner, and then share with the rest of the class once everyone is ready

Quickwrite: write down three questions or points that have been raised by the lesson so far

What I know already: if you're just about to dive into new content, ask students to identify three things they already know about the subject and jot them down as bullet points.

17. Use group work and collaboration

Collaborating with small groups gives students a welcome break from solo bookwork. They'll benefit from each other's perspectives and the ability to express their ideas.

Use your judgment and knowledge of who works well together when organizing group work. Engineering the groups might avoid troublesome partnerships, while allowing students to work with friends might generate the buzz you need for more productive activity.

16. Encourage students to present and share work regularly

Giving students a regular opportunity to share their thoughts and demonstrate learning in front of their peers drives engagement in two ways:

it makes students accountable

it lets them hear from someone other than their teacher.

If your students quiver in fear at the thought of speaking in front of the class, combine presentations with group work. A few ideas:

Have students present in groups after a group task.

Let students share each other's work within smaller groups before asking them to choose one piece to share with the rest of the class.

Let students read or present their work while sitting down. It avoids the pressure of having to "stand and deliver".

Ask for one contribution from each group after discussion, with each group nominating a "spokesperson".

Above all else, make presenting and sharing a regular part of class activity. Your class will become an equitable and engaging space that echoes with the voice of every student, not just your own!

15. Give your students a say

If you don't know how to engage your students, let them tell you! Give your students a say in classroom activity by:

providing a choice of different activities (e.g. group work or solo)

seeking student input for assessment design (e.g. students can choose a final product, provided it meets the criteria)

periodic check-ins to monitor the pace of delivery (e.g. "do we need to go over this a bit more slowly or are we feeling pretty confident?").

Giving students a choice also fosters their sense of ownership over their learning. They'll move from passive consumers to active learners with a stake in classroom activity.

14. Use mixed media

Present learning content in a variety of mediums, including video, audio, and digital resources. Using such tech-rich resources is engaging for two reasons. It's a welcome change from the stacks of paper our students are usually saddled with, and it establishes a direct and relevant connection with the digital world they inhabit.

13. Get your students moving

If your students struggle to sit still for an entire lesson, get them moving. All that pent-up energy can be channelled into a learning activity that puts them on their feet. Try the following.

Have students come to the front and brainstorm together on the whiteboard.

Have students rotate through different stations around the room over the course of an activity.

Have students split into groups or arrange themselves in different areas of the room.

Take a stand: have students move to a particular area of the room to indicate their thoughts on an issue (e.g. "everyone who thinks x, move to the right side of the room; if you think y, stand on the left").

Movement works equally well to engage sluggish or weary students. A quick bit of physical activity will leave them more alert for the next phase of learning.

12. Read the room

If you're steadily losing students to doodling, off-topic chatter, and the pervasive "need to tear and ball up little pieces of paper", it's time to shake things up.

Cut the activity short if it's dragging, clarify instructions if there's confusion, or switch to a more student-centered activity for greater engagement.

Remember: it's impossible to have every student engaged 100% of the time. The next best thing we can do is to notice disengagement and respond to it quickly.

11. Scaffold tasks with checkpoints

If you dump all your instructions on students at the start of a lesson before turning them loose with an activity, confusion and disengagement will likely follow.

That's why it's important to scaffold larger tasks by breaking them into achievable steps. Each of these can be separated by brief "checkpoints" of instruction reorienting students and reminding them of what needs to be done next. They also serve as a periodic call to attention when students are liable to go off track.

10. Focus on discovery and inquiry

Sometimes the best thing you can do for engagement is to get out of your students' way.

Let them discover learning for themselves without being spoon-fed. They'll exercise critical and creative thinking, and pursue the lines of inquiry that interest them.

This doesn't mean you should retreat behind the teacher's desk. Observe your students, listen to them, and talk to them about what they're thinking. Be their guide as opposed to their instructor.

9. Ask good questions

Ask good questions of your students and you'll drive rich, engaging discussions that are open to everyone.

Good questions should be:

open-ended: to avoid "yes/no" answers

equitable: open to answers of varying depth and complexity

legitimate: asked because you want to hear students' thoughts and opinions, not because you're fishing for a correct answer.

When students answer a question, engage with their response. Even if it's incorrect or misinformed, recognize their effort and use it to refine the question further (e.g. "you're on the right track, but could we also think about...").

8. Allow for think time

It's gratifying to see hands shoot up as soon as you ask a question, but letting your students think it over has two benefits. It leads to more considered responses that drive engaging discussions, and it also makes the conversation accessible to those who don't have an instant answer.

After you ask a question, insist on a twenty-second pause and give students an opportunity to extend their standard responses further. For example, you might ask "See if you can explain how you came to your answer, too". You'll receive better answers and start to notice some new hands going up.

7. Shake things up

Predictability is safe, but it can get boring. Mix up your staple teaching strategies with new and novel activities from time to time. Talk to other teachers for ideas. In addition to engagement, you'll also be giving your students an example of what it means to take a risk and try something new.

Experimenting with some new parts of the teacher toolkit also makes it easier to differentiate your instruction. A new activity or delivery method might be the trick to engaging that student who has been a tough nut to crack all year.

6. Give brain breaks

Periodically give students a breather with brain breaks. These are short activities that allow students to stretch their legs before returning to work feeling focused. You can find a list of 20 brain breaks at Mind Bloom.

Meritopia in Mathletics is gamified learning at its best and keeps students engaged! When students earn enough points in Mathletics, they get the perfect brain break in Meritopia by discovering new lands and unlocking characters.

5. Be personable

Relationships and rapport are pillars of lasting engagement, and you can't have either without being personable. This means getting to know your students and letting them get to know you.

While enthusiasm for the learning content might ebb and flow, your smile, laughter, and conversation will engage students every time they walk through your classroom door.

4. Encourage friendly competition

Use in-class games, quizzes, or gamified learning programs to engage students with friendly competition. For example, Live Mathletics (a feature in Mathletics) allows students to test their mathematical skills by competing in 60-second quizzes against peers in their class or around the globe in real time.

"Friendly" is the keyword here. Make sure competitive activities are low stakes and put the emphasis on learning instead of winning.

3. Start lessons with introductory hooks

Engage students from the outset of your lesson with an introductory hook. This could be anything that piques interest, establishes relevance, or inspires curiosity in the subject of the lesson, for example:

a personal anecdote connected to the subject

a brain teaser or challenge question

a historical example

a multimedia source.

Keep your hooks short and segue them directly into an overview of the learning goal. It's an effective opening that engages while setting students up for the main instructional component.

2. Laugh together

Weaving humour throughout your lesson lightens the mood and makes for a more fun experience. Laugh with your students, and don't be afraid to let them laugh at you from time to time!

1. Gamify learning

Games are the most powerful source of engagement for students outside of class, and they're equally effective at driving engagement in learning. Transform activities into games by including levels of difficulty, rewards, and competitive elements. You can read more about gamifying learning here.

You don't have to invest hours in creating rules and drawing up game boards, either. Gamified learning programs can do the work for you. The learning programs in the 3P suite, for example, provide a host of student-friendly games for mathematics, literacy, and science. All you have to do is select the appropriate curriculum and grant your students access.

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20 Student Engagement Strategies for a Captivating Classroom

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Here's our list of the best student engagement strategies to help you create an engaging classroom and better connect with students.

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An Age Old Question

As most teachers know, each student is unique . One of the biggest challenges that every teacher faces at one point or another is how to reach every student and help them succeed. This is exactly the question TeachersConnect asked several teacher YouTubers recently. And while their backgrounds varied widely - from CJ Reynolds, who teaches High School students - to Elizabeth Coller, who teaches kindergarteners - some consistent patterns emerged in their answers to this age-old question. Here are some of the top 7 takeaways for how teachers can reach every student.

1. Invest in Your Students

One crucial way for teachers to reach students is to invest in building a solid relationship with learners. As human beings, all of us want to feel valued and cared for by the people in our lives - students included. It's important to know, therefore, the power that we wield - as teachers - over our students. When students understand that you care about them and you take the time to build a relationship with them, they are more likely to be invested in their relationship with you and less likely to want to disappoint you. ( See Melissa's video at 8:05)

At this point, you might be wondering: What are some good ways to build a relationship with my students? Well, there are many ways, and if you're a teacher you probably know how, but some of the unique ways that some of the teacher YouTubers mentioned included using Team Building and/or Getting-to-Know-You activities regularly in the class. In these activities, students are free to share their feelings or talk about things they're going through. Look at it as a time for bonding with your students, as well as students bonding with each other. This can help to eliminate some problems before they start. And again, it can help students feel that they have someone that they can talk to. ( See Shelley's video at 4:50)
2. Empower Students Through Choices
Another way to motivate students is to empower them by giving them choices. Remember that old adage "you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink?" Well, asking all students in your high school class to write a 20-page essay about Shakespeare may not work for every student. Instead, you could give your students a choice of several topics to choose from, or you can allow them to choose a topic of their own. This way they get to write about something that they're interested in. It's win-win for everyone! ( See Shelley's video at 1:50)

3. Use Humor

Let's face it, many students are natural comedians, and they love a good laugh. Not only that, when teachers share a joke with students, it helps to put everyone at ease and brings about positive feelings. Even if you don't consider yourself a naturally funny person, you can still keep things light in the classroom. One way to do this is to write some humor into everyday things such as tests, writing assignments or homework. Also, once a week you can have something like a Funny Friday, where you start your day off by asking students to talk about a funny movie or TV show or share their favorite jokes with the class. If you're not funny, bring another passion or part of yourself to the classroom. Do you love music, art, theater, movies? Are you a great storyteller? Baker? ( See CJ's video at 1:00)

4. Vary Your Delivery

No two teachers ever teach the same way, just as no two students learn in the same way. And while it's not the teacher's job to keep students entertained, it is important to understand that one of the roles of an educator is to engage their students in the learning process in the best possible way. This means selecting the delivery style which works best for each lesson while at the same time addressing the diverse needs of each student. But how does an educator take on the mammoth task of teaching to each learning style in the classroom? Well, one way to do this is first to consider the delivery method which works best for each lesson and plan lessons in a variety of formats; this may include text, charts, interactive groups, drawing, 3-D modeling, speeches, interviews, videos, etc. For example, a lesson on climate change may include having your students watch a documentary, do interviews, write a report and create 3D-models. Students need a wealth of experiences to cement their learning. And constructing multi-sensory lessons creates an atmosphere where students are engaged and excited about learning. It also makes it much more likely that each student will experience feelings of confidence as well as moments of intellectual and social challenge. ( See Megan's video at 4:30)

5. Use Behavior Contracts

Even if you've incorporated all of the above strategies and more, you probably know that at one point or another, you will have to deal with student misbehavior in class. One of the great ways that Shelley Coates one teacher suggested dealing with this is by using behavior contracts ( see Shelley's video at 3:10). A behavior contract is a written agreement that you draw up with your student where the both of you identify the inappropriate behavior that the student is engaging in and the appropriate replacement behavior that you'd like to see. Including some rewards, as well as some consequences, in the behavior contract is also a good idea. By using a behavior contract you will hopefully be able to reach students through a positive intervention that will nip poor behavior in the bud before it becomes a bigger issue.

6. Get to Know Your Student's Backstory

Most all of the teacher YouTubers who responded to this question agreed that getting to know your student's back-story is important. By taking the time to get to know a bit about each student - even the ones who are misbehaving, you may be able to get a handle on any classroom behavior that may be challenging you. Not only that, it lets the student know that you care. ( See LaTawnya's video at 5:57 and See Elizabeth's video at 2:07)

7. Use Rewards and Incentives

Lastly, one of the most discussed ways on how to reach students is to figure out what they enjoy and use these things as incentives for the appropriate behavior that you want to see. Rewards and incentives can range anywhere from special activities, privileges or small prizes. Many teachers said that they use classroom economy programs, behavior programs, group incentives and individual incentives as rewards in their classrooms. For example, if your fourth-grade boys enjoy video games, then you might be able to use that as an in-class or group reward for doing homework or completing an assignment on time. Another example, Fernanda Sandoval, a first-grade teacher rewards her students with colorful little notes home for their parents. She also gives out golden tickets that they can accumulate to earn free play time and prizes from her prize box ( See Fernanda's video at 1:00) Another example would be to reward your elementary students after they have mastered all their multiplication tables with something they like.

Thank You Teachers!

We want to thank the following teacher YouTubers for participating in this vital discussion, and giving all the useful tips and insights that we learned through their videos:

CJ Reynolds is an experienced high school Literature teacher from Philadelphia, who tells it like it is. He takes on all the difficult issues with candor, thoughtfulness, and a great sense of humor. He started Real Rap with Reynolds to inspire new and veteran teachers.

Megan Forbes, Too Cool for Middle School, is an experienced middle school History & English teacher in California who is passionate about social justice and takes on some of the most difficult questions facing teachers today. She also enjoys giving tips about classroom organization, lesson plans and more.

Elizabeth Coller is an inspiring kindergarten teacher from California who started The Kinderhearted Classroom to talk about all things teacher related.

La Tawnya Robinson established a Youtube channel created to build a community of current and aspiring teachers.

Melissa Clark has been teaching for 12 years and started her channel, Teacher Inspiration Station, to share inspirational ideas with other teachers.

Kate Steimle, offers tips and tricks based on 15 years of teaching experience. Her goal is to share teaching tips based on her many years of teaching.

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7 Powerful Ways to Reach Every Student in Your Classroom - TeachersConnect

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An Age Old Question As most teachers know, each student is unique . One of the biggest challenges that every teacher faces at one point or another is how to reach every student and help them succeed. This is exactly the question TeachersConnect asked several teacher YouTubers recently.

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Character Videos for kids - Responsibility

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Introduction

Students should be made aware of assessment before starting the project

assessment method

criteria (product and/or process)

Product versus process

assessing the product - measuring the quantity and quality of individual work in a group project

assessing the process - evaluating individual teamwork skills and interaction

Assessment by instructor versus by group members

by instructor - instructor assigns all marks

by group members - group members evaluate their contributions to the group and assign marks

Product assessment by instructor

Equally shared mark

All group members receive same grade

Easiest to implement - does not require any additional work aside from marking the projects

Appropriate if group work mark is a minor part of total mark for the course

Group responsibilities are enforced - group succeeds or fails together

Individual contributions are not reflected in the distribution of marks

Poor students may benefit from the work of hard-working students

Good students may be dragged down by poor students

Does not motivate students

Exam questions

Questions should be specifically about the project, and are answerable only by students who have been thoroughly involved in the project

May increase interest in the project - students may be more motivated to learn about the work of their fellow group members

Students may ignore group in order to study
for the exam on their own

May mean additional work for instructor when preparing the exam questions

May not be effective - students may be able to answer the questions by simply proofreading
the project

Splitting tasks

Project must be divisible into multiple tasks of the same complexity

Each student is responsible for one task

Final mark is part group mark (e.g., 50%) and part individual task mark (e.g., 50%)

Direct evaluation

Instructor judges individual merits

Oral interviews

Periodic reports

Meeting minutes

Observation

Product assessment by peer evaluation

Issues with peer evaluation:

Should we use self-assessment?

Should instructor adjust marks?

Should it be done individually or collectively by consensus?

Distribution of a pool of marks (see Appendix for example)

Award the group a mark equal to (group mark) X (no. of group members)

Let group divide marks among themselves

Individual weighting factor (see Appendix for example)

Points awarded for a list of tasks

Individual mark = (group mark) X (peer assessment factor)

provides students with objective criteria by which to judge individual contributions

time consuming for instructor

rating scale may be misinterpreted

tasks all have the same weight

Process assessment

List of skills to assess, such as:

adoption of complementary team roles

cooperative behaviour

time and task management

creative problem solving

use of a range of working methods

negotiation

Process assessment by instructor

Direct evaluation of team behaviour using teamwork logs - sample questions:

what steps have you taken to organize your teamwork?

what steps have you taken to monitor the effectiveness of your team?

what steps have you taken to improve the effectiveness of your team?

what problems have you encountered in working as a team and how did you tackle them?

if you were to embark on a second, similar task as a team, what would be different about the way you go about working, and why?

Process assessment by peer evaluation

Individual assessment (see Appendix for example)

how members view each member of the team

use lists of key group work traits

average of individual marks must be the same as the group mark

References

Gibbs, G. Learning in Teams: a Tutor Guide. Oxford, 1995.

Lejk, M. et al. A Survey of Methods of Deriving Individual Grades from Group Assessments. In Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education. Vol. 21, No. 3, 1996.

Appendix with numerical examples

Example for distribution of a pool of marks

Group project mark: 70

No. of group members: 4

Instructor awards 280 points to group

Advises students that difference between marks must not be greater than 20

Group members divide marks by consensus as follows:

Example for individual weighting factor

Rating scale

1 -Did not contribute in this way
2 -Willing but not very successful
3 -Average
4 -Above Average
5 -Outstanding

Peer assessment factor = (individual total) / (average total)
Average of individual totals = 10
If project mark = 60

Individual marks:

Ann = 60 * (11/10) = 66
Bob = 60 * (12/10) = 72
Chris = 60 * (7/10) = 42

Example for individual assessment

3 group members (Ann, Bob, Chris), no self-assessment

Student name: Ann
Evaluated by: Bob (marks selected are in boldface in this example)
Note: Bob's evaluation of Chris must add up to -3
Student name: Ann
Evaluated by: Chris
Note: Chris' evaluation of bob must add up to -1
Ann's final mark: (63 + 61) / 2 = 62%

This Creative Commons license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon our work non-commercially, as long as they credit us and indicate if changes were made. Use this citation format: Methods for assessing group work. Centre for Teaching Excellence, University of Waterloo .

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Methods for Assessing Group Work | Centre for Teaching Excellence

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Students should be made aware of assessment before starting the project assessment method criteria (product and/or process) assessing the product - measuring the quantity and quality of individual work in a group project assessing the process - evaluating individual teamwork skills and interaction by instructor - instructor assigns all marks

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Video conferences can be exhausting. You might notice that students who are highly engaged during an in-person session suddenly disengage in a virtual meeting. Often, there are challenges with video lag or simply the inability to see the room entirely. I created the following visual for how you handle video conferences depending on your Hogwarts house. If you haven't read the Harry Potter series, it might not make sense.

Video conferencing can present huge challenges. Without the built-in, in-person accountability of a classroom and a teacher, it easier to get distracted and fail to attend virtual meetings.

Even when students show up, virtual meetings can feel lonely. It can feel like you're talking under water, where there's this delay in communication and a sense of separation between each person. When the microphones are all on mute, you can't hear any laughter. This is amplified by the sheer number of black screens from students who do not have the video turned on. Sometimes this is an issue of slow wi-fi connectivity. Other times, students are shy or insecure and might not feel comfortable being visible. Still, other times, students might feel embarrassed or ashamed of their home environment. It's important that we give students flexibility in this area.

However, virtual class meetings can actually be a blast. I recently attended a highly interactive, dynamic fourth grade class meeting. Students engaged in a Q&A, met in small groups, and interviewed me as an author. They had read a free book I created about a pizza with superpowers. Toward the end, each student participated in an interactive game using Kahoot. Students were highly engaged in the virtual meeting because the teacher had designed the entire experience using interactive elements. In another article, I shared some specific ideas for how to boost attendance and engagement in virtual meetings. In this article, I want to explore specific strategies for improving student interaction in virtual meetings.

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When to Use Synchronous and Asynchronous Learning

Last week, I wrote an article about improving student collaboration. It helps to think strategically about when to use both synchronous and asynchronous learning:
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Synchronous communication happens in real-time, in the moment. Synchronous communication might be a video conference, a webinar, a live chat, or a phone call. It's essentially any of the type of communication you would do in-person that you are now doing with digital tools. Synchronous communication works well when you are planning for dynamic and interactive learning tasks.As a teacher, you might want to use a virtual conference for guided practice on a discreet skill. Similarly, a music, art, language, or physical education teacher might use a video conference for a quick performance assessment, where they can provide feedback in the moment. Synchronous learning also works well small group brainstorming, planning, and decision-making. With a slightly larger group, virtual learning can help create a sense of community.

Synchronous communication has its limitations, though. The synchronous, interactive nature makes it a challenge when students have unreliable internet or challenging schedules. It also tends to breakdown in effectiveness as groups grow larger. For this reason, virtual learning is not a great method for direct instruction or for processing new information. It's also less effective in situation where you want to keep a permanent record of communication.

Asynchronous communication does not happen in real-time. Instead, it can happen over a longer period of time. Asynchronous communication might include a prerecorded video, an audio message, or an email. It also includes podcasts, videos, articles, and books. Most online course materials are typically asynchronous because of the ease of ability to read, view, or listen at one's own pace. In remote learning, instructors will often use asynchronous communication for direct instruction or to introduce new ideas or concepts. Students can easily re-watch a video or pause it take additional notes. In performance-based courses, students can record themselves and compare it to a recording created by the teacher or professor.

Moreover, when students create original content, they typically use asynchronous tools. This might be a sketchnote, a blog post, an infographic, a math problem, a video, or a podcast. However, they might still choose to use synchronous tools for elements of creative work, such as an audio interview with an expert, a synchronous video in solving a problem in engineering, or walkie-talkie app during an experiment. In collaborative work, students will often use asynchronous learning for research, inquiry, and project management but use synchronous tools for problem-solving and brainstorming.

Crafting Interactive Virtual Meetings

As we think about how to maximize the effectiveness of virtual meetings, it helps to ask, "What are the key advantages of synchronous meetings?" In general, this includes dynamic, interactive communication and the ability to create shared experiences together.

This is why virtual meetings don't work well for direct instruction. If you are planning to introduce a new concept for students, your best bet would be to create an asynchronous video that they can watch and re-watch again. Instead, it works best to have students watch an asynchronous video on their own and then clarify misconceptions and take a deeper dive into the topic in a virtual meeting.

In terms of discussions, virtual meetings don't work for large class discussions. While it is feasible to have twenty students engaged in a free-flowing Socratic Seminar, the lack of physical space and body language makes these discussions a challenge in a virtual meeting. You've probably witnessed the challenge of a slight video lag as each person says, "you first, no you first," in an ongoing loop. If you're opting for a discussion, use the breakout room functions and keep it to four or five students, tops.

Virtual meetings don't tend to work well for class presentations. Often, there are logistical challenges with having students share screens and there are quality issues if a student wants to use an embedded video clip. Instead, have students craft videos that combine annotated / recorded slideshows, live "talking head" videos, clips, and visuals. Students can then watch their classmates slideshows asynchronously and provide feedback on their own. This also allows students to edit and refine their presentation, leading to shorter videos at a higher quality.

A general question to ask yourself is, "Could this video chat be a recorded video instead?" If the answer is "yes," then a prerecorded video is a better option. In other words, virtual meetings can be dynamic and interactive but they have serious limitations. If you're doing a class video conference, it should be highly interactive and centered on deeper, free-flowing discussions. It works great when you want to clarify ideas or make decisions together as a group.

Specific Strategies for Boosting Engagement

So, how do we make our virtual meetings more interactive? Here are a few ideas:

Do a social / emotional check-in. Begin your class meeting with a quick social emotional check-in to see how students are doing. When the quarantine began, I used the following prompt. Students then shared their band names in the chat feature. Another time, I asked them to sketch a "high/low" for the week and with a quick description. Students then shared their pictures in small groups.

Incorporate movement. I know of a third grade teacher that does a daily dance to start their virtual conferences. This not only gets the blood flowing but it also creates a shared experience. Other teachers have a class phrase or mantra or a long-distance high five that they do. These increase participation and build community.

Use the Q&A feature. Many video conference platforms have both a chat feature and a Q&A feature. The Q&A feature is a great way to create a "parking lot" where students can ask a question at any time and you, as the instructor, can check it out when the time is right. If your video conferencing software doesn't include the Q&A feature, simply add it to your LMS or create a Google Form.

Use polls. Some video conference platforms include a built-in poll. If that doesn't work, you can use an online poll and link to it. Polls provide instant feedback and can help with reviewing information, gathering opinions, or doing a low-stakes ice-breaker. For what it's worth, I'm an introvert, so I don't enjoy breaking the ice. I'd rather it melt slowly over days or weeks.

Allow students to show off their pets. This is a small way to affirm each student's identity and give them a sense of agency in their learning. If they don't have a pet, they can share a stuffed animal (preferably a "stuffy" and not a taxidermy animal) or a house plant. I did this with a recent class and a college student held out a cactus that he had named Spike.

Use the chat function. It can be hard to navigate a large in-person discussion. However, the chat function can allow students to share their thoughts in real-time. They can also send private chats to other classmates for a pair-share or a quick discussion.

Make use of hand-gestures. Find specific hand gestures to get students moving. You might do a "four corners" activity on the screen rather than the room. Here, students place their hand by the corner they agree with and you can provide a slide to mirror the screen. You might also use a Total Physical Response (TPR) for content vocabulary. This can help solidify the knowledge by building an association between a word, a definition, and a movement.

Incorporate silence. Video conferences can still have moments for think time or for quick-writes or sketches. Simply add a timer and mute all participants to create the silence necessary for students to process the information. This benefits introverts who need personal think time to make sense out of ideas. It can also help students who are learning English to process the language at their own pace.

Integrate other platforms into the virtual meeting. A virtual meeting does not have to be locked into the specific video conference platform. You can have students attend via video conference but then edit a Google Document or co-create an infographic or interact with sticky note platforms like Padlet.

Use breakout rooms strategically. Many video conferences offer breakout rooms for small group discussions. As the instructor, you can set these groups up ahead of time or put them together in the moment. You might be worried about students being social in these small groups. What if they talk about football or Minecraft instead of adaptations or chromosones? But, honestly, during a time of quarantine, maybe being social isn't such a bad thing. If you create a safe space where students connect, that's a win.

Use hands-on learning to take it off-screen. You might do a maker project or a scavenger hunt. Or you might have students create sketchnotes. But the idea is to have students engage in a video conference but then go off-screen and return to share what they have found, learned, or created.

Note that you might need to create a set of norms for your meetings. As a class, you can actually negotiate norms and procedures together via the video chat. You'll likely need a process for calling on students or getting each student's attention. But even when they run smoothly, there will be significant challenges in virtual meetings. This is especially true in schools where districts are requiring teachers to live-stream lessons or to do hybrid with students joining for the whole day via video chat. For what it's worth, neither of those approaches employ sound instructional design and often the result of political and community pressure. But as educators, we don't always have control over the context. So, if we teaching virtually, we can choose to be intentional about increasing student interaction in our virtual meetings. And as a result this helps build a cohesive classroom community.

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How to Make Virtual Meetings More Interactive for Students

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Video conferences can be exhausting. You might notice that students who are highly engaged during an in-person session suddenly disengage in a virtual meeting. Often, there are challenges with video lag or simply the inability to see the room entirely. I created the following visual for how you handle video conferences depending on your Hogwarts house.

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by Stephanie Chasteen, University of Colorado Boulder

Groups do not always work productively, and not all tasks are suited to group work. Poor group dynamics, or ill-suited tasks, can reduce student engagement. This article focuses on helping students engage productively in active learning classrooms through the type of tasks that are used, and support of productive group dynamics.
Interested in more ideas on student engagement? You can see all my articles on helping students engage in active learning, and also download a PDF summary of all recommended engagement strategies.
How do group structures and tasks affect student engagement?

As you might imagine, not all "cooperative groups" work cooperatively. That is, students may be in a group, but not be working collaboratively towards a common goal that improves their learning. Students can come in with poor attitudes towards group work ( Gillespie, Rosamond, and Thomas 2006), including having a fear of loafers. Or the structure of the groups may be at fault: Often, what we think are cooperative groups are traditional classroom groups (where some students work hard and others do not), or pseudo learning groups (where students have no interest in working together) ( Moreno 2009; Nokes-Malach, Richey, and Gadgil 2015). These types of learning groups often do not actually improve student learning when compared to traditional instruction.

Students need to have a reason to work together ( "positive interdependence"), be accountable as a team as well as individually for their learning, learn skills for working together productively, and have clear expectations for the outcome of group work ( Slavin 2010; Anderman and Dawson 2010). Luckily, students typically find group work fun and motivating, and over time will typically have more productive learning experiences ( Nguyen et al. 2021; Bacon, Stewart, and Silver 1999).

Additionally, the benefits of cooperative learning are highly dependent on the task itself ( Slavin 1995). Students are motivated by interest: if a task feels stimulating, fun, relevant, authentic and novel, this will draw students in. Students are also attracted by the value of a task: A task that is useful, important, and challenging with high benefit and few costs will engage students ( Pintrich 2003; Boekaerts 2010; Engle and Conant 2002; Moreno 2009). Tasks that are less motivating are ones that can be completed using superficial memorization and without setting clear goals or involving any collaboration. A task may also be overly restrictive, offering little student latitude. Design authentic, collaborative, and fun tasks with the goal of sparking pleasure, pride, and satisfaction in students. Variety in group tasks is very motivating and tends to keep students engaged ( Shekhar et al. 2015). A commitment to variety also allows you to address different student interests ( Boekaerts 2010; Pintrich 2003; Tanner 2013), and keep student attention as the semester progresses ( Ertmer, Newby, and MacDougall 1996).

Strategies for helping students work productively in groups

Below are some general strategies for helping to support productive group work. There are many other resources devoted to this topic. See Further Reading for many of my preferred sources. Below are some of the most salient strategies related to student engagement.

Hold students individually accountable for group work

Students must have some accountability for their individual learning in order for groups to work effectively ( Slavin 1995).

Give groups a collaborative goal

It is also important to have the group working together to achieve a collaborative goal, and that the group's success is dependent on the individual learning of all members ( Slavin 1995).

Use productive group structures

The structure of groups is also important for success and engagement. The group size should be well suited to the task, and so that each student will be able to contribute. A group might benefit from having roles assigned to each student, especially early in the semester, to facilitate productive collaboration.

Can support greater group diversity. Reduces anxiety of students who may not feel comfortable asking to join a group. Students gain experience learning to work with people they don't know.

Students may prefer this. Students may be more comfortable and productive if they can choose others with whom they know they can work productively and feel safe. Some research shows students are more productive when they choose their own groups.

Students may not prefer this approach. Instructors may not know students or their context well enough to put them in groups that will work well together. The logistics of assigning groups may be more work for the instructor.

Students may choose to work with their friends and be more likely to be distracted by off-topic conversations or exclude group members who are not part of a friend group.

Aim for diversity in student achievement, gender, culture, and ethnicity. At the same time, avoid putting a single student from a marginalized group alone in a group, as they may be more likely to be excluded. Use CATME' s online team maker to form teams based on such criteria.

In a small class where many students know each other, have students write down the names of other students they do and don't want to work with, and assign groups based on their preferences, to avoid the anxiety students might feel if they have to find people to work with on the spot.

By test scores, random number generation, and then balance by race/gender.

By student choice (nearest neighbors, friends) or by characteristics (e.g., high school attended, mutual interests).

Help groups collaborate effectively and monitor their performance

Students are likely to need some help in working together well. Below are several strategies for helping students to start out on the right foot and keep working together well. See also useful training and supports for productive team-work at CATME.org, including team member preparation documents, team charters and sample team agendas. There are also several helpful suggestions for dealing with dysfunctional teams in Felder and Brent (2016).

Build motivating tasks

Build "motivational embellishments" into your activities, leveraging students' psychology to draw them in naturally to the task and make them want to engage due to intrinsic interest and value for the activity. Motivational embellishments include the insertion of specific challenges, material based on student interest, or giving students perceived control over the outcome of the task.

Summary and Action Items
This article is a product of the Framing the Interactive Engagement Classroom project, led by Stephanie Chasteen (University of Colorado Boulder), with collaboration from Jon Gaffney (Eastern Kentucky University) and Andrew Boudreaux (Western Washington University). Many thanks to University of Colorado reviewers Rebecca Ciancanelli and Jenny Knight, plus undergraduate assistant Maya Fohrman. This work was generously supported by the University of Colorado Science Education Initiative Sociocultural theory, social constructivism, positive interdependence, accountability, cooperative learning and the University of Colorado Center for STEM Learning, via a Chancellor's Award. Please contact Stephanie Chasteen with any comments or questions.
Most active learning techniques involve the creation of student groups, but groups do not always work productively, and not all tasks are suited to group work. Poor group dynamics, or ill-suited tasks, can reduce student engagement in active learning. This chapter focuses on helping students engage productively in active learning classrooms through the type of tasks that are used, and support of productive group dynamics.

Hold students individually accountable for group work

Students must have some accountability for their individual learning in order for groups to work effectively.

Follow up group work with individual assessments of learning.

Use assessments of individual effort to adjust grades.

Give groups a collaborative goal

It is important to have the group working together to achieve a collaborative goal, and that the group's success is dependent on the individual learning of all members.

Give students goals as a group.

Use achievement rewards.

Use group exams.

Use productive group structures

The structure of groups is important for success and engagement. The group size should be well suited to the task, and so that each student will be able to contribute.

Use team-building exercises.

Coach students and model effective behavior.

Help teams develop productive goals.

Require groups to self-reflect.

Help groups collaborate effectively and monitor their performance

Students are likely to need some help in working together well.

Use team-building exercises.

Coach students and model effective behavior.

Help teams develop productive goals.

Require groups to self-reflect.

Build motivating tasks

Build "motivational embellishments" into your activities, leveraging students' psychology to draw them in naturally to the task and make them want to engage due to intrinsic interest and value for the activity. Motivational embellishments include the insertion of specific challenges, material based on student interest, or giving students perceived control over the outcome of the task.

Don't bite off more than you can chew. Vary group learning methods.

Give clear, written instruction.

Focus on authentic, real world scenarios.

Allow for fun.

Give tasks that are just above student ability.

Give students choice and autonomy.

For further reading on this topic, see Ames 1991; Seidel and Tanner 2013; Millis 2012; Slavin 2010; Tanner 2013; Teed, McDaris, and Roseth 2018; Felder and Brent 2016.

Keywords to search in the literature

Image courtesy of PhET Interactive Simulations, University of Colorado Boulder

References

E. Anderman and H. Dawson, Learning with Motivation, in Handbook of Research on Learning and Instruction, edited by R. Mayer and P. Alexander, (2010).

J. Bliss, W. Firestone, and C. Richards, Rethinking Effective Schools: Research and Practice, 1st ed. (Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, 1991).

M. Boekaerts, The crucial role of motivation and emotion in classroom learning, in The Nature of Learning: Using Research to Inspire Practice, edited by H. Dumont, D. Istance, and F. Benavides, (2010).

B. Brown, A. Gamoran, S. Lamborn, K. Seashore-Louis, N. Mounts, M. Nystrand, B. Smith, G. Smith, L. Steinberg, and G. Wehlage, Student Engagement and Achievement in American Secondary Schools, 1 ed., edited by F. Newmann, (Teachers College Press, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, 1992), Vol. 1.

R. Felder and R. Brent, Teaching and Learning STEM: A Practical Guide, 1st Edition ed. (Jossey-Bass- A Wiley Imprint, San Francisco, 2016).

B. Linder, M. Somerville, Ö. Eris, and N. Tatar, Work in progress - Taking one for the team: Goal orientation and gender-correlated task division, presented at the IEEE Frontiers in Education (FIE) 2010, Arlington, VA, 2010.

R. Mayer and P. Alexander, (Routledge, Abingdon, 2016).

B. Millis, Cooperative Learning in Higher Education: Across the Disciplines, Across the Academy, 2nd edition ed. (Stylus Publishing, LLC, Sterling, 2012).

R. Moreno, Educational Psychology, (John Wiley & Sons Inc., Somerset, 2009).

K. Nguyen, J. Husman, M. Borrego, P. Shekhar, M. Prince, and M. DeMonbrun, Students' Expectations, Types of Instruction, and Instructor Strategies Predicting Student Response to Active Learning, presented at the American Education Research Association (AERA), San Antonio, Texas, 2017.

R. Slavin, Cooperative Learning: Theory, Research, and Practice, 3rd Edition ed. (Allyn & Bacon Publishers, Boston, 1995).

R. Slavin, Cooperative learning: What makes group-work work?, in The Nature of Learning: Using Research to Inspire Practice, edited by H. Dumont, D. Istance, and F. Benavides, (2010).

R. Teed, J. McDaris, C. Roseth, Cooperative Learning, Science Education Resource Center and Carleton, 2018).

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How can I help students work well in small groups, so they are more likely to engage?

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Groups do not always work productively, and not all tasks are suited to group work. Poor group dynamics, or ill-suited tasks, can reduce student engagement. This article focuses on helping students engage productively in active learning classrooms through the type of tasks that are used, and support of productive group dynamics.

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Imagine that you've brought together the brightest people in your department to solve a problem. You have high hopes for the group, so you feel frustrated when people can't come to a decision.

Several factors are holding the group back.

To start with, one person is very critical of colleagues' ideas. You suspect that her fault-finding is discouraging others from speaking up. Another has hardly contributed to the sessions at all: when asked for his opinion, he simply agrees with a more dominant colleague. Finally, one group member makes humorous comments at unhelpful times, which upsets the momentum of the discussion.

These are classic examples of poor group dynamics, and they can undermine the success of a project, as well as people's morale and engagement.

In this article, we'll look at what group dynamics are, and why they matter. We'll then discuss some examples of poor group dynamics, and we'll outline some tools that you can use to deal with them.

What Are Group Dynamics?

Kurt Lewin, a social psychologist and change management expert, is credited with coining the term "group dynamics" in the early 1940s. He noted that people often take on distinct roles and behaviors when they work in a group. "Group dynamics" describes the effects of these roles and behaviors on other group members, and on the group as a whole.

More recent researchers have built on Lewin's ideas, and this work has become central to good management practice.

A group with a positive dynamic is easy to spot. Team members trust one another, they work towards a collective decision, and they hold one another accountable for making things happen. As well as this, researchers have found that when a team has a positive dynamic, its members are nearly twice as creative as an average group.

In a group with poor group dynamics, people's behavior disrupts work. As a result, the group may not come to any decision, or it may make the wrong choice, because group members could not explore options effectively.

What Causes Poor Group Dynamics?

Group leaders and team members can contribute to a negative group dynamic. Let's look at some of the most common problems that can occur:

Weak leadership: when a team lacks a strong leader, a more dominant member of the group can often take charge. This can lead to a lack of direction, infighting, or a focus on the wrong priorities.

Excessive deference to authority: this can happen when people want to be seen to agree with a leader, and therefore hold back from expressing their own opinions.

Blocking: this happens when team members behave in a way that disrupts the flow of information in the group. People can adopt blocking roles such as:

The aggressor: this person often disagrees with others, or is inappropriately outspoken.

The negator: this group member is often critical of others' ideas.

The withdrawer: this person doesn't participate in the discussion.

The recognition seeker: this group member is boastful, or dominates the session.

The joker: this person introduces humor at inappropriate times.

Groupthink: this happens when people place a desire for consensus above their desire to reach the right decision. This prevents people from fully exploring alternative solutions.

Free riding: here, some group members take it easy, and leave their colleagues to do all the work. Free riders may work hard on their own, but limit their contributions in group situations; this is known as "social loafing."

Evaluation apprehension: team members' perceptions can also create a negative group dynamic. Evaluation apprehension happens when people feel that they are being judged excessively harshly by other group members, and they hold back their opinions as a result.

Strategies for Improving Team Dynamics

Use these approaches to improve group dynamics:

Know Your Team

Tackle Problems Quickly

If you notice that one member of your team has adopted a behavior that's affecting the group unhelpfully, act quickly to challenge it.

Define Roles and Responsibilities

Teams that lack focus or direction can quickly develop poor dynamics, as people struggle to understand their role in the group.

Break Down Barriers

Focus on Communication

Open communication is central to good team dynamics, so make sure that everyone is communicating clearly. Include all of the forms of communication that your group uses - emails, meetings, and shared documents, for example - to avoid any ambiguity.

If the status of a project changes, or if you have an announcement to make, let people know as soon as possible. That way, you can ensure that everyone has the same information.

Opinionated team members can overwhelm their quieter colleagues in meetings. Where this happens, use techniques such as Crawford's Slip Writing Method, and make sure that you develop strong facilitation skills.

Pay Attention

Watch out for the warning signs of poor group dynamics.

Pay particular attention to frequent unanimous decisions, as these can be a sign of groupthink, bullying, or free riding. If there are frequent unanimous decisions in your group, consider exploring new ways to encourage people to discuss their views, or to share them anonymously.

Key Points

The term "group dynamics" describes the way in which people in a group interact with one another. When dynamics are positive, the group works well together. When dynamics are poor, the group's effectiveness is reduced.

Problems can come from weak leadership, too much deference to authority, blocking, groupthink and free riding, among others.

To strengthen your team's dynamics, use the following strategies:

Know your team.

Tackle problems quickly with good feedback.

Define roles and responsibilities.

Break down barriers.

Focus on communication.

Pay attention.

Keep in mind that observing how your group interacts is an important part of your role as a leader. Many of the behaviors that lead to poor dynamics can be overcome if you catch them early.

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Improving Group Dynamics: Helping Your Team Work More Effectively

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Imagine that you've brought together the brightest people in your department to solve a problem. You have high hopes for the group, so you feel frustrated when people can't come to a decision. Several factors are holding the group back. To start with, one person is very critical of colleagues' ideas.

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Accountability is important for any team. Without accountability, people won't take ownership and make sure work is done right. As a leader, you're accountable for what happens in your team.

But that doesn't mean a leader has to be the only accountable person in a team. You need team members to take ownership, too.

How do you know when you need to improve accountability in your team?

One mistake leaders make is that they feel they need to be the only accountable person. This isn't always true. There are a few signs that show you could benefit from improving accountability in your team.

1. Improve accountability when you don't know all the details

If you are a leader who doesn't know the technical details of your team's work, that isn't always a problem. Some of the best leaders can remove themselves from the details and be more strategic.

However, when you don't know the details of the work, you may need to improve accountability by delegating to somebody else to take charge. Give them the responsibility to manage the technical work, because they are the best person to understand it.

2. Improve accountability when too many people are involved

Sometimes there will be too many opinions in your team. Before you know it, you will need to step in as discussions take too long.

Decisions might reach deadlock when team members can't agree and they all have the same level of authority. This means that nobody can make a call and you may need to step in to fix it. However, this can be time consuming.

Instead, try delegating accountability for the decision to somebody else who can make the call better than you can.

3. Improve accountability when your team is underperforming

Accountability gives people a greater sense of ownership over their work. You can improve ownership by delegating responsibility for functions within your team for team members to lead.

When someone feels greater responsibility, they often feel personal pride, making them care more about the quality of their work. You can see this through improved motivation, enthusiasm and greater commitment to the team.

How to improve accountability in your team

I like to think of accountability this way:

When everybody is accountable, nobody is accountable.

If you fail to delegate accountability for a task to one person, nobody has ownership.

When "we are all accountable", nobody owns the task. This is why it's important to be specific. What you don't want is a situation where team members say "I thought (someone else) was doing it!"

1. To improve accountability, choose one person
"Bob, you are accountable for making sure the letters go out on time."
This tells Bob that he is the one in charge of this task. When things go wrong, Bob knows he needs to fix it. Bob knows if he doesn't do it, nobody else is going to.

2. To improve accountability, set clear expectations
"Kathy, I need you to make sure that the report has no spelling mistakes, blurred pictures or incorrect fonts".
It pays to be specific about what you need people to do. The more specific you can be, the less chance there is that your team will have a misunderstanding. The clearer your expectations are, the less likely that there will be confusion about what you need.

3. To improve accountability, tell everyone who is in charge

If you make Bob accountable for sending the letters on time, make sure you tell everybody in the team. Otherwise, when Bob starts to ask people about the letters, people will think "who made Bob the boss?"

The worst thing you can do is tell Bob he's accountable for the letters, but forget to tell anybody else. Bob will be running around thinking he has authority for this, but nobody else will. This will make Bob's job harder, and is a common mistake that leaders make.

4. To improve accountability, make it formal

If you want to make the extra accountability a permanent arrangement, make sure you include it in your team performance plans. In other words, make it formal.

Formalising accountability improves ownership, and also allows you to recognise team members for the additional responsibility. It also means they can add the role to their resume for future roles. This can motivate team members, because they feel they are developing their skills and taking on more responsibility.

5. To improve accountability, follow up and hold people to it

If you introduce accountability into a team that isn't used to it, it will take time. That's why it's important to follow up on the tasks that people are accountable for.

Explain clearly to your team members that when they commit to completing the task, they are accountable. Sometimes you need to make people a little uncomfortable in your team so that they know you're serious. You don't want to become a tyrant, but it needs to be clear that accountability means something.

Accountability is critical for a successful team. Teams will sometimes avoid it, because it can make them feel exposed. However, once accountability is clear, formal and widely communicated, it will improve the way your team works.

Remember, if everyone is accountable, nobody is accountable.

If you want to learn more about holding your team accountable, get the leadership guide by clicking on the image below. You won't regret it!

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Have you struggled with accountability in your team or workplace? Let me know in the comments below!
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5 simple ways to improve accountability in your team

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Accountability is important for any team. Without accountability, people won't take ownership and make sure work is done right. As a leader, you're accountable for what happens in your team. But that doesn't mean a leader has to be the only accountable person in a team. You need team members to take ownership, too.

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The meaning of TEAM. Together Everyone Achieves More ! 2.0 (Enhanced version)

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The meaning of TEAM. Together Everyone Achieves More. TEAM Is a group of people with various complementary skills, WORKING TOGETHER towards a common VISION. TEAM Members operate with a high degree of TRUST, accountability and interdependence. TEAM Members share authority and RESPONSIBILITY for self management. TEAM Members create synergy with strong sense of mutual COMMITMENT.