If you’ve read many of my blogs you know I am a big fan of cooperative learning! But keeping classroom management in place during cooperative activities can come with a little learning curve of its own, especially when it comes to managing behavior and making sure groups are staying on task. So, here are a few cooperative learning classroom management strategies to make implementing cooperative learning in your classroom fun and easy!
Attention Getters
Getting students’ attention quickly is crucial for giving directions during a cooperative learning activity. But sometimes those classroom management strategies we typically use, like raising our voice or clapping our hands, can actually escalate the noise level and cause more chaos! So instead, try using a visual cue like turning off the lights or holding up a sign that says “quiet please.” Another tried-and-true method is the classroom call back where the teacher says the first part of a phrase or movie catchphrase and the students finish it. For instance, the teacher can say “hocus pocus” and the students can respond with “everybody focus.”
Assigned Roles
Another cooperative learning classroom management strategy to ensure all students are participating in group and partner work is to assign specific roles to each student. This way, everyone has a job to do and feels like they are contributing to the activity. For example, you can have a “director” who is responsible for keeping the group on track, a “recorder” who writes down ideas, and a “timekeeper” who makes sure the group stays within the allotted time.
Inclusive Expectations
Another hurdle in managing cooperative learning is ensuring every student gets included and feels included. There is nothing worse than asking kids stand-up, hand-up, pair-up and then watch one student get avoided by classmates. Or see two besties head straight for one another…again. So, it helps to remind students of some catchy rules like “No fly-bys, no guided missiles”. Fly-bys are students who purposely fly past (avoid) someone near them looking for a partner. Guided missiles are students to make a beeline across the room toward a friend. Feel free to act these behaviors out in an exaggerated fashion as you explain. You’re kids will love it!
Mix It Up
Another way to avoid this classroom management issue is to try using a “mix-it-up” strategy. For this strategy, students are randomly assigned to groups or partners. I like to keep a jar of popsicle sticks with each student’s name on them. I draw names randomly to make groups. This way, everyone has a chance to work with different classmates and no one feels left out.
Whatever you do, don’t shy away from trying cooperative learning in your classroom. Peer interaction makes learning fun and engaging for students. You’re sure to see results! Here are a couple of free cooperative learning math tasks to try out in your classroom while you experiment with these cooperative learning classroom management strategies.
Have fun!