AY 375 - Fall 2014: Seventh Day Lesson Plan

Today we'll be discussing our teaching philosophies, hearing from an experienced GSI, and also discuss ways of improving group dynamics in section.

1. Group dynamics are not an easy thing to change. Be willing to try different tactics to get students to collaborate with each other.
2. If you use worksheets, think about how they might impact group dynamics.

Open the floor up for general questions and sharing about how sections are going. Some questions include:

• What did you do?
• How did you implement your activities?
• What worked?
• What didn't work?
• What would you do differently?
• How did you assess learning?
• Did you receive any unexpected questions/reactions/etc.?
• Did anything unexpected happen?
• What were you thinking about while you were running section? Any moments of panic?

In previous classes, we talked about the benefits of group work and different ways of organizing group work. Today we want to talk about how to improve group dynamics, both in small groups and class discussion.

In small groups (3-4 people), you'll be given a scenario to think about. What could you do to improve the group dynamics in your scenario? Brainstorm some possibilities in your groups for 10 min and then we'll share with the class as a whole.

Scenarios:

• In one of your small groups, you notice that one of the students is doing most of the work. His partners are mostly copying what he does but with very little interaction between them.
  • Ask one of the other group members to explain their thought process when you walk up to their table. If he/she doesn't know, ask the student what it is that's confusing. Ask other group members if they have an answer. Try to get a conversation going. Point out that being able to explain your reasoning to others is a valuable skill and helps you better understand the material.
  • Talk to the student doing the work after class about the benefits of teaching his partners.
  • Create group activities that require each group to report to the class a whole or to other small groups. Force a different student to present to the class each time.
• In one of your small groups, you notice that one student is very quiet. The others are ignoring him since he's not speaking up.
  • Go over to the table and ask the quiet student his thoughts on the question/project at hand. If he expresses confusion, ask him/her to pose a question to the group and give status to the student, saying “That's a great question.” If he expresses an idea, give him status by saying “That's an interesting idea.” If his idea is wrong, try to involve him in the group conversation by saying something like, “I think there's a lot of students who have that same idea. This may be something your group is asked during large class discussion. What does the rest of the group think about this?” Or you could then ask the same student, “How could you test whether this idea/method is correct?” Try to get students to correct each other and explain their reasoning to each other, instead of stepping in and saying what's wrong or right.
  • Create group activities that require each group to report to the class a whole or to other small groups. Force a different student to present to the class each time.
  • Emphasize to the group or the whole class that everyone has something to contribute to group work. Even wrong ideas can be useful in terms of clarifying the group's thinking and explanation.
• During class discussion, two students almost always raise their hands to answer your questions or volunteer to speak for their group, but the rest of the class seems to be disengaging.
  • Try just waiting more time for other people to raise their hands.
  • Thank the two students for their contributions but say you'd like to hear from other students as well.
  • If the discussion was preceded by group work activity, call on a specific group that the dominant students are not in.
  • Ask students to think about the question in pairs. Then try asking for a volunteer again or walk around and if you hear the right answer, ask that student to share it with the class later.

During class discussion, as groups are sharing, ask if other groups have additional strategies to contribute.

What other group dynamics have you encountered in section? Did you try to “fix” them? If so, how and did it work? If not, how could this type of situation be dealt with?

Sometimes you probably use worksheets as part of group work. How can worksheets help or hinder group work? Consider both the content of the worksheet (e.g. the types of questions) and how you use it (e.g. do you hand one out per group or per person)?

Some takeaways:

• Giving only one worksheet per group can help promote group work. However, giving worksheets to individual students can encourage them to take notes and have something to take away after section.
• If you only give one worksheet per group, think of ways to encourage students to take notes of the important takeaways, perhaps by writing on board during class discussion.
• If you give individual student worksheets, make questions more open-ended, require finding an optimal way of solving a problem, etc. Try to ask questions in a way that encourages them to talk to each other, exchange ideas.

1. We will be doing board work exercises again next week. But this time you won't know what questions are coming (they will be related to your particular course's material).
2. Schedule a time to meet with me after I observe your discussion sections, if I do.
3. Second extended log due next week.