Weeks 6 & 7
Grouping students is something that I deal with every day. I have table groups, reading groups, writing groups, reciprocal teaching groups, guided reading groups, and of course interpersonal groups (cliques, friends, good students, and behavior problems). While the chapters were referring to mainly academic groupings, all the interpersonal relationships play a large part in whether or not the groups is effective as a learning tool.
Cooperative groups are useful to further a student�s understanding of the curriculum being taught but groups are something that must be practiced by a class to be effective. You can not expect students to succeed by just sticking them in a group. They must know what the group is for, and what the objective of the group is. Without these things, the group is useless to the teacher and the students.
Classroom Instruction that Works� gives good advice in monitoring and choosing the groups. I agree that groups should be small. I usually say, no more than 5 students. Also, the groups must be chosen with thought. You don�t want a group of behavior problems or best friends all together. Their groups would not be effective. The only thing that I don�t agree with the book on is that they say to limit groups based on instructional levels. Groups based on instructional level are necessary. Especially when working with students who need to improve their reading abilities. Students who are reading at a level that is too high or too low will not improve. If the material that the group is reading is too high, the students who are not at that level will work too hard on decoding the material instead of trying to analyze what the material is trying to say.
I saw how the idea of grouping could work with �Learning Communities�. The students could create their own groups by using the internet, email, or chat rooms. Also, these groups might even be more beneficial to students because they are creating groups that lie outside their sphere of influence. This would open the students up to new ideas that they might not have been exposed to within their own classrooms.
Generating and testing hypotheses in school is so important. I work on this skill with my students every day. Making and testing a hypothesis or guess is using inferential thinking. Making inferences is incredably difficult for students but is so important for life. I am trying to get them to make guesses or predictions for everything. The students are really scared to make hypothesis that may be wrong. I want them to see that it is ok if their guess didn't turn out like they thought. What they have to go back and look at is why the outcome was what it was. Why did they think it would be one way, when it turned out to be another way. Making hypothesis and testing them is a big part of metagognition (thinking about how you think). People need to see that how they think something will be and how it actully is, is important. Throughout life we are always making predictions about how things will be. Hopefully, as we find the outcomes, we can look back and say, now I can see why it is this way, or "Hey, I was right.". I really don't want the students to look at hypothsis as a matter of right or wrong, but I do want them to see them as a path for their thinking.
I really think that this topic fits in with feedback and goal setting because making hypothesis and then looking at the results is feedback. When you go back to your original thinking and looking at how the outcome really was you are giving yourself feedback as to how you are doing with your thinking. I know that the book is referring to the feedback that teachers give students but there has to come a time where students can give themselves feedback.