One of the best things of this research is that it has given me the time to get to know so many different initiatives, that I would otherwise have never had the time to see.
The other day, in one of my endless routines of clicking through link after link of good materials, I found the jigsaw classroom.
I had never heard of this method, although I implemented something of the sort in my own classes. But what amazed me here was that I finally found the answer to the problem I faced when my students work in groups:
How do you make sure they all work, towards the benefit of the group?
Because what I did was once a week I created project groups, in which the students would choose a topic and, all together, research to find the answers to their own questions. These were typically groups of 4 or 5 students and everything was planned and decided by the group:
But every week, I would hear complaints from the groups that one, or more, students had forgotten their part or hadn't completed their tasks. Which meant, at the end, that the final project was presented by 4 but in reality only 2 or 3 had done the actual work.
The Jigsaw Classroom finally answered my question. By giving the students different topics to work on inside of their group, then reuniting them with colleagues that have done the same research, and then asking them to present it to their initial pears, we create an intrinsic motivation for them to work, because they will feel that their action makes a difference.
In a group where everybody works for the same goal, is easier for a small child to not grasp why their work is important. By training these skills we are also working their empathy and, as a result, the collaboration between the members of the classroom.
What do you think of the jigsaw classroom? Did you know this method? Leave me a comment about this and let me know what methods you use to make your children work in groups.
The other day, in one of my endless routines of clicking through link after link of good materials, I found the jigsaw classroom.
I had never heard of this method, although I implemented something of the sort in my own classes. But what amazed me here was that I finally found the answer to the problem I faced when my students work in groups:
How do you make sure they all work, towards the benefit of the group?
Because what I did was once a week I created project groups, in which the students would choose a topic and, all together, research to find the answers to their own questions. These were typically groups of 4 or 5 students and everything was planned and decided by the group:
- The topic to work on;
- The questions that needed to be answered;
- The materials they would consult to find those answers;
- The way they would present their findings to the class.
But every week, I would hear complaints from the groups that one, or more, students had forgotten their part or hadn't completed their tasks. Which meant, at the end, that the final project was presented by 4 but in reality only 2 or 3 had done the actual work.
The Jigsaw Classroom finally answered my question. By giving the students different topics to work on inside of their group, then reuniting them with colleagues that have done the same research, and then asking them to present it to their initial pears, we create an intrinsic motivation for them to work, because they will feel that their action makes a difference.
In a group where everybody works for the same goal, is easier for a small child to not grasp why their work is important. By training these skills we are also working their empathy and, as a result, the collaboration between the members of the classroom.
What do you think of the jigsaw classroom? Did you know this method? Leave me a comment about this and let me know what methods you use to make your children work in groups.