Chapter 4: Ensuring
Individual and Group Accountability
Chapter 4 takes us on a journey of what is required from
each member of the group when doing PGW.
The word accountability is equal with responsibility, and is important
that we create opportunities for all students to be responsible in PGW. There are two levels to PGW: individual accountability and group accountability. “Regardless of the rigor or duration of the
collaborative learning task, each student needs to clearly understand his or
her individual role as well as what the group is expected to produce or
accomplish” (52).
The authors provide 6 ways for building accountability into
each task:
1.
Tasks
should be designed to focus on larger learning goals.
2.
Students should have time to practice with small
tasks before expecting them to complete longer projects.
3.
Timelines should be created for individual work
and group work due dates.
4.
Conferences should be scheduled DURING the
projects to give feedback to individual and group progress.
5.
Students should evaluate themselves and the
efforts of their group work.
6.
When grading, make sure to factor in individual
work and the overall group project.
One way that teachers can ensure work distribution is to
create roles for students when working in productive groups. The most important thing to remember when
doing this though is that students should have practice with these roles before
being thrown into them. Table tents are
an easy way to keep students focused on the learning task, instead of worrying
about what they are supposed to contribute.
I know that during data teams, it is nice to have my responsibilities in
front of me so I can be reminded of what I need to complete. Expectations and setting up routines ahead of
time can help maximize the learning.
Checklists, timelines, and rubrics are good ideas for teachers to have
in place when planning PGW. They can
help guide students in participation, interaction, and providing specific
feedback to each other.
Two specific ways that teachers can give feedback to
students is through observations and conferencing. There are two forms on pages 56 and 57 that
could be useful for teachers but I personally do not think it needs to always
be that detailed. I like the quote on
page 55, “Recording kidwatching observations can be as simple as using a
clipboard with sticky notes in order to jot quick comments about a student’s
participation in group work” (55).
Conferencing can and should be done with individual students and also in
groups. The most important thing I took
from this is that it should be done during the projects, not afterwards.
To end the chapter, the authors give us four different
routines that can help ensure individual and group accountability:
1.
Numbered Heads:
This strategy is already on our blue cards, but are teachers using it?
2.
Collaboratively Constructed Products: Becky and I tried this last year, and I am
skeptical because students can technically do their own part with their marker,
but the conversation piece can be forgotten.
Ideas on how we can include the rich conversations?
3.
Progressive Writing: This is an interesting idea, and was
wondering if anyone has tried it in their classroom?
4.
Writing Frames:
The READ 180 curriculum uses writing frames (sentence starters). Do other subjects/teachers use writing frame
in their classes?