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COOPERATIVE LEARNING AND DIFFERENTIATION STRATEGIES 

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COOPERATIVE LEARNING AND DIFFERENTIATION STRATEGIES 

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COOPERATIVE LEARNING STRATEGIES
Tools for successful learning strategy in which the teachers group students in small groups with different characteristics, could be skill level, interests , etc; using a variety of learning activities and resources to improve their understanding of a subject.

Cooperative study groups: small groups of 4-6 members who study a topic, concept or skill in order to talk, question and become more involved in larger group discussion.
This strategy is very helpful in art class when we are learning about new artist that could be related under the same concepts of study, because it helps to construct knowledge together, when they discuss and collaborate elaborating little presentations in group to teach the class. I have successfully done it, giving my students the freedom to communicate their ideas using the art tools that they want, they can make posters, they can invent artsy ways to dress up like the artist, they can do a talk show, etc. I feel that they are really motivated and this experience will be a fun memory to remember, activating enduring understandings.

Individual activities: Compacting, look for meaning, practice/apply skills, homework, learning centers, products, independent study, exams. I find this strategy very useful for my stand alone, and learning art skills, when I need to teach different techniques or the characteristics of the different art movements, I’m used to work with learning centers in my classroom, that varies depending on the media (watercolor, oil pastels, soft pastels, acrylics, etc.), concepts (kinetic art, optical art, design by patterns, etc.); and my students can rotate from table to table doing sketches and at the end they decide which media or concept will use to make a juxtaposition with their central ideas, depending on the unit of inquiry.

Whole class activities: diagnostic assessment, introduction, planning, sharing, conclusions. In art, we have done collaborative art works in which each class (I have 5 classes per grade level) participate with their creative product to make it a big one. We did a beautiful project in the peace day, in which we build a big heart with little origami hearts with peace thoughts. At the end of the exhibition, each kid exchanges their heart with a classmate.

DIFFERENTIATION STRATEGIES: Allow students to empower and engage in different learning activities:

LEARNING CENTER: With this type of centers, we can give the student the possibility to explore the most important concepts of the unit individually, so they can make their personal connection and start the process of metacognition.

INTEREST CENTER: This kind of center will facilitate the work of the students when they have chosen a specific way on how they want to develop and construct their knowledge. It gives us the possibility to have different resources in the same classroom guaranteeing that all of them have the tools that they need to the process, according to their personal interests.

INVESTIGATION GROUP: This group will help us to differentiate between interests, using the investigation as a tool to build knowledge, but the key to this strategy is that our students will be able to deliver informed reports of their topic of interest becoming the experts of the class. So, it gives us the possibility to enhance their self-esteem and encourage new inquiries and action.

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Self assessment: Teamwork and Collaboration 

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Self assessment: Teamwork and Collaboration 

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What is discussion and how is it related to inquiry

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SESSION 4 DISCUSSION AS A WAY OF TEACHING

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Self-assessment: A questionnaire on classroom questions

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Self-assessment: A questionnaire on classroom questions

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How good am I to ask questions?...Is that a good way of questioning myself about it? question, answer and reflect.

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2 Questionnaire on Classroom Questions (1) (1)

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What role does questioning have in discussion and inquiry?

We learn about the world interacting with it, everything begins  when we are babies and we start exploring and feeling,  we are curious of our environment and we start learning, by observing, copying, touching, questioning and using our senses to relate with the surroundings, after that when we learn the different languages and we are capable of speaking all our inquiries are verbalized and new world of information and things to learn are there for us to grasp.

What is memory? Wilfred asked. One question for a huge concept from which he couldn't just take one answer as a final statement. What happens when we just make out of a single story the only story? When we are capable of thinking critically, we will go find answers, and that is the Aha! moment for our students, only when they start wondering and relating the knowledge to their own and previous experiences is when the thinking is visible.

Questioning is part of being a human, so it can't be taken away from our nature, we are always in the search for understanding, in order to do that we will always be asking, discussing, talking, experiencing, exchanging ideas, etc. So I think its is inseparable from any other disciplines.

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RUBRIC FOR BECOMING AN INQUIRY BASED TEACHER

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RUBRIC FOR BECOMING AN INQUIRY BASED TEACHER

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Reflecting, thinking and learning to become a better inquiry based teacher:

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Rubric for Inquiry Based Teacher_Bibiana Rojas

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IF IT DOESN'T WORK, CHANGE IT : When the traditional system of education doesn't work, INNOVATE! 

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IF IT DOESN'T WORK, CHANGE IT : When the traditional system of education doesn't work, INNOVATE! 

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Visible Thinking Strategy: What makes you say that?

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They are many ways to ask questions to our students in order to activate the interest of inquiry, but only assertive questions will trigger the learners to connect experiences and search for the truth, making our questions in the planner productive.

Attention-focusing questions: Get the students attention to look somewhere and experience and wonder by themselves.
Measuring and counting questions: How long? How often? The kids are able to find the answers themselves.
Comparison questions: Qualitative. Helps to organize and classify, bringing more questions to the students thinking in the logic of what the questions are coming from.
Action questions: What happens if? Will bring students to think and relate about the experience.
Problem-solving questions: I think is similar to the action questions but these ones challenge the students to solve logical problems through the experience. Teacher’s how and why questions: These ones can be the more delicate, talking about inquiry motivation, because sometimes they close the questioning and are confusing for the students who ignore where does the teacher want to go from it, or too difficult for someone who is not an expert, questions that just have one right answer doesn’t go anywhere, these how’s and why’s should bring other questions to the table and that’s how we know we are formulating them in an assertive way and have productive participation and learning.

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What is inquiry?
Inquiry is the capacity of the human being of been curious, ask questions and wonder, taking action by seeking answers, information and new knowledge.

My favorite Inquiry cycle and the one that I’m using this scholar year is the model of Kathy Murdoch, it allows me to plan my learning experiences and I feel that is also flexible regarding some inquiry that my students might want to learn.

Tuning in: Helps me to learn about my student’s previous knowledge and their interests, based on a provocation activity and the mapping of the Central Idea.

Finding out: What is there to learn? How can I find information? What are your questions?

Sorting out: Which information is important to solve my questions? Do I have new questions? How do I relate these questions to what I already Know?

Going further: What am I going to do with the information I got? How am I going to organize it? Am I please with my results?

Making Conclusions: Reflection time, what did we learn? How can I relate this knowledge to my daily life? VT about the Central Idea: Before I thought…Now I think

Take action: Are you doing something different today based on what you learned?

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Implementing Concept Based Curriculum discussion, when we share knowledge we learn more :-)

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Learning and teaching through CONCEPTS:
This beautiful video can be very useful as a  provocation activity, maybe for a Sharing the Planet Unit, depending on the specific objectives that we want to address and the ideas that we want to cover on the transdisciplinary theme. Thinking of that I would discuss with my time about having  the following concepts:

Key Concepts:

Function: What is the role of each living being on the planet?
Causation: What is the impact of our actions in our planet?
Connection: We are interconnected by nature
Responsability: We are responsible for the mark we leave on the planet
Related Concepts: Behavior - Impact - Interdependence - Values

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CONCEPT BASED CURRICULUM Visible thinking activity:

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CONCEPT BASED CURRICULUM Visible thinking activity:

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BEFORE I THOUGHT...NOW I THINK

BEFORE I THOUGH:

In the precollegiate education everything important can be taught

NOW I THINK:

Teaching all the important academic knowledge through the school years is a delusion

I think most of the people considerate the school as a place where children learn a piece of universal knowledge in the different subjects in order to acquire essential topics that would make us less ignorant, giving us a big spectrum of what is there to learn about the world but the way of how this strategy has been done traditionally only leads to a poor and temporal understanding to pass standard government exams that will proof your proficiency and capability to face the world demands.

BEFORE I THOUGHT:

The traditional model of education is more challenging than new curriculum models

NOW I THINK:

Traditional models of education standardize humans like if we all were the same soldiers

The concept model based design of a curriculum nor only supports the academic knowledge but is a resource to support cognitive enduring understandings that have the power to be personalized in the way that each student can be an active member of their own knowledge.

BEFORE I THOUGHT:

Learning concepts could have the risk of leaving behind some important topics that the student is supposed to learn during their precollegiate years

NOW I THINK:

The concept based curriculum model gives the freedom to have a bigger spectrum of the whole matter, giving the students new possibilities of action.

The concept based model give the students the possibility to go far and beyond the expectations of the teacher, knowing that since a very young age the students are learning how to contrast ideas and connect abstract concepts into a whole world of knowledge, giving them the possibility of an independent solving problem and critical thinking skills.

BEFORE I THOUGH:

Concepts and topics can be put on the same chart meaning practically the same thing

NOW I THINK:

Concepts are the key to enable enduring understandings

A curriculum concept based model adds to the traditional models the capacity of developing skills contrasting the content with actual facts that enrich the process of learning.

BEFORE I THOUGHT:

Generalizations are shallow and subjective

NOW I THINK:

Generalizations can be a good tool when teaching concepts

When using generalizations to teach concepts we open up the spectrum of understanding, giving a good base of facts and putting in the table information that is interesting to the students make them lead their own learning, thinking that generalizations can be taken as ideas than can be true or false and the students are there to solve the problem trough their experiences and previous knowledge, activating a synergistic thinking.

BEFORE I THOUGHT:

Math is only factual

NOW I THINK:

Math can also be taught under a concept based curriculum

I have always been bad at Math matters, and I think that comes from my traditional education background because I was never able to connect and understand the practical importance that this subject was going to have in my daily life and I was never able to relate conceptually, that made me scared and my brain would freeze just trying to solve one equation.

BEFORE I THOUGHT:

TOK was equivalent to Philosophy as a subject in DP

NOW I THINK:

TOK is a tool for the students to connect all their previous understanding to a world of possibilities

TOK is one of the most important subjects for the students in DP taking in account that it has the capacity to make them wonder about the world and question themselves of all the knowledge they have acquire during their school years. Personally, I think this subject take the whole package and make the students develop a deeper critical thinking and conceptual understanding about their knowledge and all the information that the gain in the process of learning throughout the school years.

BEFORE I THOUGHT:

Concept based curriculums were successful for a personal development of knowledge but it could be a disadvantage at the university.

NOW I THINK:

Concept based curriculums are an advantage for our students when they go for the first time to the university.

The students can have a big advantage from having a concept curriculum based education background, because the person is used to synergistically process factual information through a conceptual level of thinking.

Having the opportunity to teach a concept-based curriculum gives you as a teacher the possibility of having more empathy and joy of teaching and learning, because it gives you the skills to be open minded and grow intellectually, recognizing intercultural and international mindedness as an important part of the constructivist process of a new way of education, cultivating human beings ready to solve problems with critical thinking and universal atemporal knowledge that will be useful for our future generations.

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COOPERATIVE LEARNING STRATEGIES:  by Veronica Rose Steffen

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COOPERATIVE LEARNING STRATEGIES:  by Veronica Rose Steffen

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Pujolás Maset (2009), He goes on to define three kinds of teams:

Home or base teams: permanent heterogeneous groups when, if possible, are maintained during a grade level cycle.

Sporadic teams:  teams that last for one class lesson or session from 5 minutes until the task given is complete

Expert teams: each member of the group becomes specialized in some knowledge point or skill, for example drawing, checking spelling, etc..  Once made an expert, they later transmit their knowledge or skill to their base team

In order to support learning, he suggests another set of three group types for revising material:

Bookends: an anticipated scenario is established i.e. before a presentation, conference, video, interview etc. in order to process what has been learned. It addresses high and low ends ability.

Paired feedback groups: provide the opportunity to review and improve work throughout the course, submitting drafts of work to glean feedback and critiquing details before handing in the final version. It works best with written work but can be adapted to other elements.

Cooperative study groups: small groups of 4-6 members who study a topic, concept or skill in order to talk, question and become more involved in larger group discussion.

This strategy is very helpful in art class when we are learning about new artist that could be related under the same concepts of study, because it helps to construct knowledge together, when they discuss and collaborate elaborating little presentations in group to teach the class. I have successfully done it, giving my students the freedom to communicate their ideas using the art tools that they want, they can make posters, they can invent artsy ways to dress up like the artist, they can do a talk show, etc. I feel that they are really motivated and this experience will be a fun memory to remember, activating enduring understandings.

Support Commission’  Stainback & Stainback (1999) propose its creation in each class. All students in the group take turns belonging to the commission. The commission meets periodically and its purpose is to determine in what way they can give mutual support do that their class environment becomes increasingly a small learning community.

O’Connor et al. (2006) suggest a variety of ways to address grouping students.

Flexible Grouping

Students work in a variety of groups

The groups are based on different learning elements

The groups are homogenous as well as heterogeneous

Grouping in the Classroom

Whole class activities: diagnostic assessment, introduction, planning, sharing, conclusions

In art we have done collaborative art works in which each class (I have 5 classes per grade level) participate with their creative product to make it a big one. We did a beautiful project in the peace day, in which we build a big heart with little origami hearts with peace thoughts. At the end of the exhibition, each kid exchange their heart with a classmate.

Small group activities: look for meaning, skills, direct lecture, planning, investigation

Individual activities: Compacting, look for meaning, practice/apply skills, homework, learning centers, products, independent study, exams

I find this strategy very useful for my stand alones, and learning art skills, when I need to teach different techniques or the characteristics of the different art movements, Im used to work with learning centers in my classroom, that varies depending on the media (watercolor, oil pastels, soft pastels, acrylics, etc), concepts (kinetic art, optical art, design by patterns, etc); and my students can rotate from table to table doing sketches and at the end they decide which media or concept will use to make a juxtaposition with their central ideas, depending on the unit of inquiry.

Student/teacher conferences: assessment, tailored planning, evaluation, counseling

Other groupings:

Graded reading groups/ Shared reading

Synthesis Squadron: sets of 4 with visual, written, metaphoric preferences, etc.

Teacher talks: 5-7 students with similar needs meet with the teacher for extension or support

Think tanks: mixed levels generate ideas for writing, 4-5 students

Stick groups: 6 students with varied profiles to quiz progress and understanding, cross section of groups

Choosing partners, peer groups, 3-4 students

Other Grouping Strategies

World of Color: Each participant stands with his back to the wall, closes his eyes and remains silent. Each student gets a colored sticker stuck to his forehead a sticker color, so he cannot see which color he is given. One of the participants does not get a sticker or it is placed in a completely different way to the rest. They open their eyes and are told they have two minutes to group themselves, without saying anything.

The teacher, or one of the participants, observes what they do, and what happens to the one with the different sticker. Then they talk about what happened, how they have done, how they have felt. Later talk about what happened, how things progressed and how they felt.

Echoing the statements in the introduction to this topic, Bara, J. & Domingo, J. (2005) state that grouping methods are used for acquisition and consolidation of knowledge as well as social purposes: learning through cooperation and learning cooperation.

Cooperative Learning Strategies

There are many cooperative learning strategies developed by a variety of educators. The following offer a few of them. There is no specific way of classifying these but it would be interesting to find a way to do so, especially in organizing the ones used in a given class or school to ensure the same terms are used by students, teachers in a grade level and across the whole school.

Card Sort: Students or teacher can prepare cards with terms on one color and definitions on the other. Students work in teams to find matches.

Circle the Sage: The teacher polls the class to see which students have special knowledge to share on a topic. Those students become the sages stand and spread out in the room. The teacher divides the remaining students evenly into teams and teams send members to different sages, (so no two members of the same team going to the same sage). The sage explains what they know while the classmates listen, ask questions, and take notes. All students then return to their teams. Each in turn, explains what they learned from their sage.

Four Corners: Teacher poses a question and gives four potential responses and points to a corner for each one. Students decide which they agree with or would like to discuss and move to that corner. They discuss the topic with those who moved to that corner.

Grasshopper: Participants stand around holding up a blanket and bounce a ball (grasshopper) placed on it. They can play spin the ball around the edges or make a hole in the blanket the size of the ball and try to get it to fall in.

This is My Friend: Participants sit in a circle with hands joined. One begins by presenting the partner on the left with the formula "This is my friend "x ", as the name is said the partner raises the friend’s hand in the air. The game continues until all have been presented. Role play with historical figures and include some detail in the introductions.

Spiral: The group forms a long chain by joining hands. The person who is at one end starts to turn in on self, while the rest of the chain follows until all are squeezed into a tight hug.

Cooperative Musical Rings: The group is divided into pairs and each pair is placed inside a psychomotor skills ring or hoop. Each participant holds a part of the ring and while the music plays, they jump around the room while remaining within the ring. When the music stops, participants team up from two different rings and stand together inside the two rings. This process continues until as many participants as possible are within a single hoop.

Traveling Shoes: Each participant takes off a shoe and places it in a pile. Then each takes a random shoe and while holding it joins hands with others in a circle. After locating the person to whom the shoe belongs, participants exchange their shoes without breaking the circle.

Magic Boxes:remove the "bad" and reach the "good". Everyone sits in front of two boxes. Participants are told to imagine the following:

"The wishing fairy has left us these two boxes. In the transparent one we put all our good wishes and in the other one, we put everything we've done wrong. When you have something to share put it in the appropriate box. "

While filling the boxes, participants can freely and quietly comment. Once the boxes are filled, the transparent one is place in a prominent place. The other box is placed next to a bucket of water. Two children come up and by order of fairy, place a few papers in the bucket.When wet, they are wrung out then thrown into the trash. Others do the same until all the ‘wrong doings’ are disposed of. While drowning the bad, the rest can sing, chant or clap to a given rhythm.

Snow Or Popcorn Balls(alternative): Older learners can write negative points on a paper but instead of putting them in a box, they crumple the paper and throw the balls around the classroom.  After a minute, participants pick up one near them and read it aloud.

Graffiti: Groups receive a large piece of paper and felt pens of different colors. Students generate ideas in the form of graffiti. Groups can move to other papers and discuss/add to the ideas.

The Paper Tablecloth - Everyone writes what he thinks on a paper tablecloth. What you write has to be related to the subject. After a given time, participants move around the table. In this way, they quietly read what others have written. They can reply, comment or add anything else to what is already on the paper. With everything added, the entire tablecloth will gradually be cover with comment.

In the end, all sit around the table and each reads aloud what they have written in front of them, respecting the order of the developed cascade of reactions. Answers to the following questions for a final comment may be considered: What conclusions have been worked out on the subject? Has everyone participated equally? How did you feel during this process tense, joyful...?

World Café(alternative):  Cover various tables with paper and share conversations about a topic on the tablecloth. Individuals join new tables to discuss different but related issues or questions presented on each. (See also Discussion strategy: Paper Dialogues)

The Silhouette: Trace on paper the outline of a person and hang it up. The leader tells the group what the character represents and invites them to reflect on some short and specific descriptions of that character. Short sentences, phrases or words are written in the most suitable places of the silhouette i.e.  giveemotional life to the heart, where the character is in the feet, or does what he does in the  hands, etc...  A summary of the written elements is made and then participants develop a content analysis. Answers to the following questions for a final comment may be considered: Do you agree with the different descriptions given? How do we differ? How do weidentifywiththecharacter?

The Ideal City:The group builds a model of the ideal, desired, dreamed city. They also specifythe type of people who live there, their values, attitudes ... type of housing, work, shopping, entertainment, leaders, streets, squares, gardens, names of different places, etc. The resulting models are presented and explained highlighting the ideals and values that have appeared in its construction. Answers to the following questions for a final comment may be considered: What is this ideal city like and how is it our city? What is missing from one another’s models? What is better or worse than our city? What would have to change in our city to make it ideal? What can wechange, here and now?

Crosswords: The leader writes words to express something important to us, something we believe deeply, a theme and related words, etc. Quietly, and following the rules of the game, participants write words using a letter of a word already there, so that all words create a crossword puzzle.

For example: FRIENDSHIP

M

P

A

T

H

Y

Answers to the following questions for a final comment may be considered: What was the process of the game like? Did everyone participate equally? What kind of content has come from the process? In view of the results, what conclusions candraw?

My Favorite Professions: Everyone thinks of three professionsthey would most like to have. They are pooled together to agree on what profession each will analyze. No profession is repeated. Teams of four or five are created to analyze them one by one, responding to questions like: What does this profession consist of? To do what they need to do, are they working with other people in the same profession or are other professions needed? Is desirable to know how to work as a team for those in this profession? Does anyone show them how to work together? ... Finally, participants share all the analyses to ascertain the importance of teamwork.

Manuel’s Team: Based on the case of Manuel, a boy who did not like working in a team in school for a number of reasons. Ask each student individually to think of the advantages teamwork. Form teams of four or five to share the advantages each had found and add these to the initial list of any other partner if it was not considered. The various teams pull together all the advantages found. If any had not been said before, they are added to this last advantages list. Conclusion: Team work generates more ideas than individual work.

Shared Reading: Reading can be done in pairs or groups. A team member reads the first paragraph. Others must pay close attention because next one called (or clockwise classmate), will need to explain or summarize what was just read. The other two should say whether the summary is correct or not, whether they agree or not with what was said. The second student who had made the summary of the first, then read the second paragraph, and the next (third) continues in the same way.  And so on, until you have read the entire text. If an expression or a word that no team member knows arises in the text, before consulting the dictionary, the team spokesman notifies the teacher and the teacher calls on other groups who are reading the same text to ascertain if someone knows the meaning and can help them out. If so, that person explains it to the whole class, also revealing how they discovered the meaning of that word or expression. (Seealso: Discussion strategy- Circular Response)

1-2-4: The teacher poses a question or problem to the class, for example, to see how far they have understood the explanation just given. Within a base team, first each (1) thinks what the answer to the question may be. Second, two (2) exchange their responses, comments, and two make one. Third, all team members (4), share answers given by the two "couples" to compose among all the most appropriate answer to the question raised. (See also: Discussion strategy -Snowballs)

Three-minute Pause: Teachers stop any time during a lecture or discussion and give teams three minutes to review what has been said, and to ask clarifying questions. This can be extended to have the base teams think of three questions to pose related to the content just covered. The questions are collated discarding any repetitions and responses are solicited or given. The lecture or discussion continues for another 3 minutes to the next pause. (See also: Active listening strategies)

Pencils to the Center: The teacher gives each team a sheet with as many questions or exercises about the theme as team members (usually four). Each student is responsible for a question or exercise. It is read aloud to ensure all companions provide information and express their opinions. The person responsible then makes sure everyone knows and understands the consensual response. The order of the exercises is determined. When a student reads aloud "his" question or exercise, all team members talk about how it is derived and decidedasthe right answer.

All pencils are placed in the center of the table to indicate that at that time participants can only speak and listen; you cannot write. When all are clear about how to respond, each picks up a pencil and writes in their notebook or does the exercise in question. At this point, you cannot talk, just write. The pencils are then put back in the center of the table, and all proceed to the next question or issue addressed by another student.

The Number: The teacher presents a task (answer questions, solve problems, etc.) to the whole class. Students, in base teams, do the work, making sure that all members know how to do it correctly. Each student has a number (i.e. by alphabetical order). Once time to solve the task is over, the teacher draws a random number from a bag in which there are as many numbers as students. The student whose number is drawn must explain in front of the class the resolution to task done. If successful, the team gets a reward (a "star", a point, etc.) that later can be exchanged for a prize. If there is time, another number can be chosen, (provided thestudent chosen forms part of another team base). The reward is for their team efforts as all learn to do it right.

Number Heads Together: Students sit in groups and each group member is given a number. The teacher poses a problem and all four students discuss. The teacher calls a number and that student is responsible for sharing for the group.

Equal Numbers Together: The teacher assigns a task to teams and members of each team must decide how to do it, making sure everyone knows do it. When the allotted time is up, the teacher randomly selects a number from 1 to 4 among the four members of a base team. Those who have this number must leave to others and perform the task (problem, answer the question, resolve the issue, etc.). Those who do well receive some kind of reward (praise by the teacher, applause, a "point" for his team ...). In this case (unlike "The Number"), a member of each base teamgoes before all others; all teams therefore have the opportunity to get a reward.

Jigsaw (Aronson et al, 1975; Slavin, 1980): This technique is useful for "fragmented" contents e.g. language and literature, the study of four authors; natural sciences, the study of four species...

This technique consists of the following steps:

Divide the class in heterogeneous teams of 4 or 5 members each.

Divide the material into as many parts as team members, so that eachreceives a piece of information on the subject. In this way, each team member prepares their part of the information.

With members of other teams who have studied the samesubtopic, a "group of experts" on their section is formed, exchanging information, key concepts, build schemes, clarify doubts, etc.

Eachmember then returns to his original team and explains to the group the part for which he was responsible.

All students need each other and are "forced" to cooperate, because each has only one piece of the puzzle and his teammates have others, making it essential to complete the proposed task.

One For All: The teacher collects, randomly, a notebook or workbook of a team member, corrects it and the grade obtained is the same for all team members (evaluating the production of one student for all (the team). The focus is set on the content of the responses (not in the way they have been presented in the notebook) to evaluate the group.

Gallery Walk: After teams have generated ideas on a topic using a piece of chart paper, they appoint a “docent” to stay with their work. Teams rotate around examining other team’s ideas and ask questions of the docent. Teams then meet together to discuss and add to their information so the docent also can learn from other teams.

The Rotating Paper: The teacher assigns a task to base teams (a list of words, writing a story, things they know about a particular topic to learn about their previous ideas, a phrase that sums up a fundamental idea of ​​the text that have read or theme they have been studying, etc.) and a team member begins to write his or her contribution on a "rotating" sheet. Then the paper is passed to the next team member, clockwise, to write his or her contribution to the task, and so on until all team members have participated in contributing to the task. While one writes, the other team members should be attentive to fix and correct him if necessary. The whole team-not each one individually is responsible for what is written in the "Rotating Paper". Each student can write their part with a marker of a different color so, at first glance, the teacher can see the contribution of each.

Pairs(Variation):  Within a team, partners, initiate the "rotating sheet”. When time is up, the two pairs exchange the "rotating sheet" and each must continue the activity after correcting the part written by other couple. The paper continues "rotating" within the same team. Pairs take turns at the time of writing. While one writes, the other is attentive to ensure the work is done correctly.

The Substance: Used to find the main ideas of a text or a topic. The teacher invites each student to write a sentence on a main idea of a text or theme to be worked on in class. Once written, it is shared with the teammates and among them discussed as to whether or not they are correct or if some nuance is messing. If incorrect or thought to not correspond to any of the main ideas, it is discarded. The same is done for all the sentences. As many "rounds" as necessary are made to express all the ideas considered substantial. In the end,all the sentences are ordered in a logical way and each copied in their notebooks. Thus they have a summary of the main ideas of a text or topic. At the time of the final summary in their books, they can introduce changes or phrases that each considers most opportune.

Game of Words: The teacher writes on the board a few keywords about the subject they are working on or have already finished. In each of the base teams, students must formulate a sentence with these words, or express the idea that there is "behind" these words. Then in a given order, each student presents their phrase and the others correct, add nuances, and complete it. Using logical criterion they are then ordered and one is responsible for cleaning them up. The keywords can be the same for all teams, or each base team may have a different list of keywords. The phrases or ideas built with the keywords of each team, when brought together, represent a synthesis of the whole subject addressed.

Four Sided Conceptual Maps: At the end of a theme, as a final synthesis, each team develops a conceptual map or diagram that summarizes everything worked on in class. The teacher will guide students to decide what should be included. Within each team the different parts of the map will be distributed so that each will bring their thoughts from home (or in class it will be done individually or in pairs). Then they will share what each has prepared, review the coherence of the map, retouch it and make a copy for each member, which will serve as study material. If the time permits, each team can develop a summary -a conceptual map for a portion of the issue. The sub-part of the subject is then distributed to all teams. The sum of all concept maps of all teams represents a final synthesis of subject studied.

The Sack of Doubt: Each student in a team writes on a third of a piece of paper (with their name and the name of their team) a question that has arisen in the study of a particular topic. When everyone has had time to write their questions, they are exposed to the rest of the team, to see if anyone can answer their question. If someone knows the answer, the student who asked it records the answer in their notebook. If nobody on the team knows the answer to their question, it is given to the teacher who puts it in the class’ "sack of doubt".

In the second part of the session, the teacher pulls a question from the sack of doubt and asks if someone from another team can resolve it. If no one knows the answer to the question, the teacher resolves the problem.

Chain ​​of Questions: A suitable structure to review topics. For three minutes each team thinks of a question on the subject that they will ask of the team to their right, clockwise. These are questions on key issues (that could be on a test) to help the other teams study. After three minutes, the spokesman for a team poses the question to the next team, which responds. Then the spokesman for that team asks the question of the next team, and so on until the last team askes their question of the team, who has started the "chain of questions." Each team has two speakers: one to ask the question and another to give the answer imagined. If a question has been raised previously, it cannot be repeated and team that raised it is skipped. After the first round, three minutes are given to think of new questions, after which a new chain starts, but in the opposite direction: each team asking the question to the team that in the first round had asked them a question.

Research Groups (Sharan and Sharan, 1976; Echeita and Elena Martin, 1990): This technique enables each group to participate and develop that for which it is better prepared or more interested. It consists of three phases (Phase 1: search for information; Phase 2: Analysis and synthesis of the information received; Phase 3: Presentation of the topic to the rest of the class) and on the whole, involves the following steps:

·       students choose, according to aptitude or interest, subtopics within a general one, usually raised by the teacher

·       team constitution (heterogeneous, ideally 3- 5 members)

·       students from each team and the teacher plan the specific objectives proposed and the procedures used to achieve them, while distributing the tasks to be done (find information, systemize, summarize, diagram, etc…)

·       students develop the plan described. The teacher follows the progress of each team and offers help

·       students analyze, synthesize and evaluate information obtained. The summary is presented later to the rest of the class

·       each team presents the work done and, once exhibited, they plan questions and answer possible questions, doubts or extensions that may arise

·       teacher and students together assess the team work and presentation; they may carry out an individual evaluation

TGT: Teams - Games - Tournaments (Devries and Edwards, 1974; Johnson, Johnson and

Holubec, 1999) consists of the following steps:

·       form base teams; the teacher tells them that their goal is to ensure that all team members learn the assigned material

·       team members study the material together, and once learned the tournament begins with the rules of the game well specified; the teacher uses game chips for each question and a sheet with the correct answers

·       each student plays in groups of three, with two colleagues with similar ability from the other teams

·       the teacher gives each team a set of cards, face down, with questions on the contents studied

·       students in each trio, one after the other, take a chip from the heap, read the questions and answers; if the answer is correct, the tab remains; if incorrect, the card returns under the pile

·       two other students can refute the answer to the first (starting the one on the right) if they believe that the answer given is incorrect; if the refuting answer is right, the tab remains, if not, one of the chips has already won goes back under the pile

·       the game ends when all the chips are finished; the member of the trio with the most chips wins the game and gets 6 points for his team; the second, scores 4 points; and the remaining third, two points; if the three tie, they get 4 points each; if the first two tie, they get 5 points each, and the third 2 points. If the last two tie, they get 3 points each and 6 points go to the first team

·       points obtained each member of the trio are added to their base team; the team that has the most points is the winner

Human Continuum: Teacher poses a question or problem and students line up according to their opinion on the answer.

Inside/Outside Circle: Divide class in half. One group forms a circle facing outward, the others find one person in the circle to stand opposite, so there are two circles of people facing each other.

Information can be shared and reviewed, and outer circle can move easily to generate more responses or discuss new information.

Pass a Problem: Teacher creates problems for teams to solve and writes or attaches them to envelopes. Teams read the problems, place their solutions in the envelope and then exchange with another team to check their solution and to determine if they solved the problem in a different way.

Round Robin Brainstorming: Class is divided into small groups with one person appointed as the recorder. An open-ended question is posed and students are given time to think about answers individually.

Next, members of the team share responses with one another, round robin style. The recorder writes down the answers of the group members.

Say and Switch: Partners take turns responding to topics at signaled times. The times will be unpredictable and the person listening must pick up from their partner’s train of thought before adding new ideas.

Send a Problem: Students write a review problem on a card and ask teammates to solve their problem. Teammates solve and the question-writer determines if they have come up with a good solution.

Other team members repeat the process.

Talking Chips Each student is given a certain number of chips. Each time they talk they must submit a chip, but once their chips are gone they may no longer talk. Students must use all their chips.

Team-Pair-Solo: Students do problems first as a team, then with a partner, and finally on their own. By allowing them to work on problems they could not do alone, first as a team and then with a partner, they progress to a point they can do alone that which at first they could do only with help.

ThinkPad Brainstorming: Requires students to individually brainstorm and write down their answers on a sheet of paper. Once they are all done they are to share their information with a partner or team.

Three Stay, One Stray: In a group of four (or could be more), students solve a problem. While they work, they send one member to “stray” to another group to compare teams’ solutions.

Three-Step Interview: Partners interview each other then they share what they have learned with another team of two.

Think-Pair-Share: First, individuals think silently about a question posed by the teacher. Individuals pair up and exchange thoughts. Finally, the pairs share their responses with the whole class.

Think-Pair-Square: The same process as think-pair-share, except that partners share with another set of partners before the whole-class discussion.

Two Facts and a Fib: Students or the teacher write down two facts and one fib, the job of the team is to identify which is which.

Visible Quiz: Teacher poses questions with multiple choice responses and students sit in teams and discuss the responses.

When the teacher asks, they hold up their answers and may be called on to explain their team’s reasoning.

# data[].attributes.body
An inquiry into the nature of the self; beliefs and values; personal, physical, mental, social and spiritual health; human relationships including families, friends, communities, and cultures; rights and responsibilities; what it means to be human.

I'm Bibiana Rojas, a Colombian art teacher that loves her job :-) I am an anxious, active, funny, passionate, loud woman, who enjoys the time with children and loves to play, paint, dance and laugh !

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My teaching philosophy will always be open to change its strategies, but is mostly based on stimulation through activities that enable students CREATIVITY, understanding that each person is a world and we all learn in different ways and I might not see any changes right away, but I try to make sure that the learning experiences designed are open enough to plant insights seeds that can activate their previous knowledge in order to make meaningful connections with the world that we live in. My goal is in long term, and my pride begins every time the learning makes it visible during the education progress, then is when I can recognize that I was able to give them enduring understandings and at the same time I can learn which strategies worked better than the other ones.

My learning process is visual and (ideally) it requires interaction and movement. I like to know the opinions and perspectives that people have about different topics. I’m a visual listener and my brain takes its time to make connections and come up with a posture.

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THE FUTILITY OF TEACHING EVERYTHING OF IMPORTANCE

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THE FUTILITY OF TEACHING EVERYTHING OF IMPORTANCE

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Sometimes curriculums and teachers forget that the most important to learn in the school goes beyond knowledge !