Assignment form:  Artifact with reflection form

 

Artifact and Reflection Form

 

Name: Julie Henks                 

 

Artifact number: Two

 

Title of artifact:  Cooperative Learning Group Lesson #2 Summary

Course number and name: MAT 735 Meeting the Needs of Diverse Students

 

Type of artifact  Lesson Plan Summary/ Student work

 

Write a brief description of the artifact

This artifact is a summary of the second cooperative learning group lesson plan I incorporated into my second grade classroom. The artifact summarizes the objective of the lesson and what was expected of the students during the time they worked in their groups. The artifact also summarizes how the students interacted with each other in their cooperative groups.

 

 

Professional and/or Learner Outcomes Represented by this Artifact

Relate this artifact to your listed professional and/or learner outcomes.

This artifact represents the outcome of creating a cooperative learning group lesson plan to teach a graphing lesson to my students. The students gained the knowledge of using data they were given and graphing the results. They also learned how to work cooperatively in groups.

 

Report of Outcomes Attainment

Describe the results obtained and shown on this artifact.

The results of this artifact show that I was able to create a second cooperative learning group lesson and implement it into my classroom. It shows that students enjoyed working in the groups and succeeded on the assignment in their groups. I was able to assess my students work on an individual level as well as a group level.

 

 

Reflection on the process

This artifact demonstrates that I learned how to create an effective cooperative learning group lesson plan and implement it into my second grade classroom. I learned that it takes a little more work to get your students prepared to work in groups than it does just to hand them the assignment and give them directions. First, you have to really think about the students in your class and see which ones will work together best. I learned that my ELL student worked very well with a high student, along with his aid. He seemed to stay more focused when there was only one other student in the group. Second, you have to really look at the task you want the students to complete and make sure it will work as a cooperative group activity. Overall, I learned that my students really enjoy working in cooperative groups and as the year continues I will plan more cooperative group lessons.

            I chose this artifact, because it demonstrates that I was willing to make changes in my classroom. I went from the traditional every students works alone to incorporating cooperative groups into my classroom. It shows that I have the ability to create a lesson that will work as a cooperative group lesson. Another change I have made in my classroom is to really look at my students and see what level they are on both academically and behavior wise, before I begin placing them into groups. I was very excited to make this change in my classroom, because as a student I really enjoy working in groups; however, I know that everyone must do their part in order for the group to succeed.

Through this artifact I am able to link the program outcome, “Candidates apply quality principles of leadership, including skills of effective communication, collaboration and motivation to shape change and improve the learning community” with the research I have done on cooperative learning groups. “According to Johnson and Johnson (1993), cooperative learning is the structuring of small groups so that students work together to maximize their own and each other's learning,” Fui Fong HO and Hong Kwen BOO. By allowing my students the chance to work in cooperative learning groups they are maximizing each others learning and at the same time they are building effective communication skills. In the groups they have to learn to work together as a team and work out problems they have on their own. This will help to build the classroom community. Through this artefact I can also link what I have done to the course outcome, “Use the professional research to determine possible strategies to introduce in the classroom.” I research cooperative learning groups and found a great deal of information to help me find new strategies to incorporate into my classroom. This artifact also links to the course outcome, “Candidates demonstrate knowledge of diverse learners, including all forms of exceptionality, and create instructional opportunities that meet the needs
of all learners,” because worked hard to group my ELL student with a group of students he would work successfully with. All of my cooperative groups were diverse based on their academic levels.

       This artifact allowed me to show evidence of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards the Five Core Propositions. First, by showing that I am concerned for my students’ self-concept and want to motivate my students to learn and work effectively with their peers. I allowed my students to pick their own group members for this lesson, hoping that each student would find someone they would work best with and motivate them to want to complete this assignment. Proposition #1 outlines this by saying, “They are concerned with their students’ self-concept, their motivation and the effects of learning on peer relationships” (NBPTS, 2008, Proposition #1, para 5). I was also able to show evidence by using diverse instructional strategies in my classroom. My students had already been taught how to take data they are given and graph the results, but for some of the students it was still difficult. By allowing them to work in cooperative groups they had the opportunity to work with someone else and hear the directions from a classmate. This shows that I was willing to use a different strategy to help my students better understand the concept. Proposition #2 outlines this by saying, “They are able to use diverse instructional strategies to teach for understanding” (NBPTS, 2008, Proposition #2, para 3). Through this artifact I was able to show evidence of the Five Core Propositions, and all of the planning and implementing was done to benefit my students learning. 

        

 

           

 

References

National Board of Professional Teaching Standards. (2008). What teachers should know and be able to do. Retrieved November 24,2008 from http://www.nbpts.org/UserFiles/File/what_teachers.pdf

 

Cooperative Learning Group Lesson #2 Summary

 

The second cooperative learning group lesson I incorporated into my classroom was a math lesson on graphing. The objective of the lesson was for students to use data they were given and graph the results. Students were put into groups of two again. They were given two containers full of jelly beans and a graph. First they had to count how many jelly beans they had of each color, then write the total down. Next, they had to graph the number of each jelly bean. Each group member had to count each color to make sure they had the same answer. Each group member also had to graph the jelly beans on their own graph page.

            I placed the students with their partners, this time putting my ELL student with a high student. He also had his aid working with him this time.  Some of the groups argued a little, but I stepped aside and let them solve the problems on their own. J.R. worked very well with his partner. His aid was there, but helped him very little. The student he was working with did a great job of explaining things that J.R. did not understand. “According to Johnson and Johnson (1993), cooperative learning is the structuring of small groups so that students work together to maximize their own and each other's learning,” Fui Fong HO and Hong Kwen BOO. I feel that by allowing my students to work in these small groups they have gained more than by just working on their own. If they did not completely understand what was going on they would ask their partner and together they figured out what they needed to do to complete the assignment.

            I walked around as the students worked to watch and see how everyone was doing. I assessed the students by making sure both group members were doing their share of the work, and by grading their graphs. Each group was given the same amount of each color jelly bean, so they should have all had the same answers. My ELL student and his partner both did an excellent job of completing their graphs.

            This lesson also went very well and the students really enjoyed working in their groups. When they were finished with their graph they were allowed to eat their jelly beans. They took it upon themselves to find a fair way to divide up the jelly beans.

            Based on the past two cooperative groups I have incorporated into my classroom, I can see that my ELL student seems to work better with just one other student. This student was a very high student, which might have helped, but I also think that having less people in his group made it easier for him to stay focused on the assignment.

 

 

 

 

 

References

HO, F.F. & BOO, H.K. (December 2007) Cooperative learning: Exploring its effectiveness in physics classroom. Asia-Pacific on Science Learning and Technology, 8 (2), 1.

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