Are there any strategies that you use to encourage teamwork among your students?
What ways are you adopting to instruct students who have varying abilities?
In the Spanish class that I am currently teaching in, I don’t really need to encourage teamwork because most of the activities they do in this class are group activities. They enjoy doing group work, and they already understand the importance of teamwork, because in order to be successful, each group must have cooperation from the entire team. For example, we play a game called “Donkey Races”, which requires groups of four to compete with each other, and every person in the group has a task. One person translates the sentence posted on the board, another person writes the sentence onto the mini white board given to them, while the other person checks the sentence for errors, and the last person has to take the white board to the front of the class to get the sentence checked by me. Each time they do this, they rotate, so every person has a different task each time. Also, if their sentence is correct when they show it to me, I move their donkey one space up. The first team to get their donkey across the board wins the game. This game requires every in the group to participate in order to win the game. They love this game and I don’t even give a reward to the winning team. The students understand the significance teamwork and they enjoy these kinds of activities. I don’t really have to do anything to encourage them to do activities that require cooperative learning.
For students who have different abilities or disabilities, I modify my lessons according to what their needs are. For example, there is one student in my class that has a 504 plan because he has cerebral pulsy. One of his hands is deformed so he cannot use it. For him, I have all my notes ready to be printed out for him so he doesn’t have to use his hand to write everything out. Also, because of his disability, I use a lot of songs so he can memorize or learn new concepts. This eliminates the amount of notes he has to take because learning new concepts through songs don’t require note taking. In addition, I also provide many oral activities, which is another way to do assignments that do not require the use of his hand. My lesson plan adaptations are based on the student’s needs and each adaption I do varies per individual.
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Debbie knows how to handle situations which require teamwork in the classroom. Language teachers need to do this in order to maximize learning, allow for situations in which students self correct their Spanish mistakes or correct eachother (rather than the instructor)and make sure that all students are on task. I have observed the "donkey races" that she described in class and it is as fun to watch as it is to participate in, I am sure! She once did a lesson outside with two rotating circles in which students conjugated verbs. It was chaotic at first, but once they got the hang of it, things went along well. Debbie is always very innovative and willing to try new activities in order to adapt to their different learning styles. As far as special needs or different types of learners are concerned, Debbie always includes modifications for ESL students, students with disabilities or GATE students in her lesson plans. She is always right on in this area. Great work, Debbie! I look forward to seeing you this Thursday at Charter Oak.
ReplyDeletethe game sounds like a lot of fun! I bet the kids love it! I also like how you differentiate for your cerebral palsy student- it is important that we do that in order to enable every student to be successful. Sounds you are doing a great job!
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