Cooperative Learning

This week I have taken the time to do some cooperative learning in the classroom. For an assignment for my middle school math methods class, I interviewed three students who worked together to solve a difficult problem involving patterns. Part of our assignment was to see how they interacted and worked together. I noticed that it was a struggle for the students to work together cooperatively. They seemed to each work independently and then consult one another to check their work. Working cooperatively seemed to be a chore. I also taught a cooperative learning lesson that involved the students working together on an experiment which eventually created a linear equation. I grouped the students in groups of 4 or 5 and did not let them select their groups. After doing some of these cooperative learning activities, I began to see how some students really enjoy working independently on assignments; however, some of the students really enjoyed the time to interact and work together. I was also shown the importance of teaching the students how to work together. Cooperative learning can be a wonderful tool in the classroom, but the students must interact positively with each other. I was able to find a website that I think really helps with some ideas for cooperative learning such as grouping, teacher's role, and different strategies. The website is http://www.pgcps.org/~elc/learning1.html. From my experience I learned how important grouping can be for cooperative learning. Each student needs to have a role and be responsible for explaining the activity. This makes cooperative learning a valuable and enjoyable tool for the students, specifically in the math classroom.