Reflective Learner meets Effective Group Work

I’m in the process of reading a paper Restructuring the Classroom: Conditions for Productive Small Groups (1992) by Elizabeth G. Cohen (click on the green text to go directly to the external link) because I have been questioning the effectiveness of group work during Inquiry.  Although I still have much to read on this topic, I have began to make changes from what I have l learned so far.  I am also consistently trying to improve my practice and understanding of the reflective learner.

I began questioning the usefulness of self reflecting on the quality of your own participation during or after a task.  Wouldn’t it be more powerful to begin a task with a plan on how you were going to participate?  By having a clear purpose and a particular mind set at the beginning, wouldn’t that then shape your achievement?

I’ve taken the Participation Pie, often completed during or after a group work task, Inside/Outside Circles and Teacher Conferencing to now use as reflective planning tools at four junctures within an Inquiry.  (Please feel free to click on the green words Participation Pie and Inside/Outside Circles to follow the link to our other posts that explain these tools).

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