92: Collaboration Strategies (3 of 3)

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For this article, I will insert – Classroom moves – in the WHAT section so that I don’t lose track of them before the NOW WHAT section.

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7  –  Appreciation of Differences
  • Average version
    • Values team mates with similar backgrounds and opinions
  • Star version
    • Embraces differences and creative tensions
    • Matches unique talents to best fit positions
  • Star actions
    • Spend time learning team members’ unique talents and deciding how they can be best used for the team
    • Hold conversation with team about their team IQ – rate it, discuss it, how to raise it?
    • Encourage team to stay with creative ambiguity as long as possible
    • Do not rush to decisions
    • Embrace differences
    • Knowing that holding contrary ideas long enough can lead to breakthroughs
    • Integrate differences into innovations
  • Related classroom moves
    • Get to know each student’s interests, talents, goals, etc.
    • Figure out how to measure team IQ and teach students how to measure it and use it to set goals and next steps for their collaboration growth
    • Challenge students to identify the connections and possibilities embedded in contrary pairs/groups of ideas
    • Develop team roles that are meaningful and that appeal to different students’ talents
    • Use different team roles to develop different talents in students
 
8 –   Accountability & consequences
  • Average version
    • Does not hold anyone accountable when team puts out a disappointing effort
  • Star version
    • Discusses accountability and consequences up front
    • Review accountability and consequence throughout the project
  • Star moves
    • Help individuals define clear roles and responsibilities
    • Provide clear definitions of success
    • Converse about accountabilities and consequences as part of the team’s formation
  • Related classroom moves
    • Guide students to create team contracts that clearly describe each person’s roles and responsibilities
    • Provide expectations and rubrics for success early in the project
    • Discuss expectations and refer to rubrics throughout the project
    • Guide students to create positive & negative consequences for their team that respond to typical situations and document these in their team contracts
    • Guide students through discussions during project that compare their current behavior with the agreements and consequences their team contracts
    • Collaborate with students to create class norms and specific expectations and the system of positive and negative consequences that support these.
 
9 –  Personal leadership
  • Average version
    • Completes a task and move on with little congratulations
  • Star version
    • When task is done, reflects on what work can be reused
    • Reflects on past performance to improve future performance
    • Decides who needs performance analysis info
    • Designs formal and informal celebrations for wins
  • Star moves
    • Hold sessions to brainstorm learnings and spread the news to the right people
    • Recognize individual’s and team’s efforts
    • Provide timely and specific feedback
  • Related classroom moves
    • Provide frequent formative feedback and teach students how to use it to improve understandings and products
    • Take time to recognize individual and team’s efforts
    • Facilitate reflections that get students to consolidate what they learned about content and themselves in projects and reflect / predict on how they might use that information in the future
    • Share insights with the right students in a timely manner throughout projects

 

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Collaboration is one of the most important NT learning outcomes.  Without strong collaboration skills, students can not effectively and positively complete projects with the aid of their team mates.   Most students do not naturally have these skills when they arrive at PBL schools because individual work is highly prioritized in most non-PBL learning environments.  Most PBL teachers did not attend PBL schools growing up, so they need training on what are / how to scaffold effective collaboration skills.

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Preparation Steps
  • Research what are effective collaboration skills.  See Collaboration articles for ideas.
  • Design tools, practices, and scaffolds that promote effective collaboration skills.  See above and Collaboration articles for ideas.
Early Implementation Steps
  • Implement tools, practices and scaffolds that develop teacher’s and students’ collaboration skills.
  • Use informal assessments (observations supported by checklists) and student reflections to identify and fine tune effective strategies
Advanced Implementation Steps
  • Have students reflect and identify the collaboration strategies that are working best for themselves and why.
  • Incorporate effective strategies into classroom routines that promote strong collaboration in all student teams
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