Social Learning

I think that the lessons discussed and presented are exactly what social learning is about. The four recommendations listed in "Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works" are as follows:
1. Use a variety of criteria to group students.
2. Use informal, formal, and base groups.
3. Keep the groups to a mamageable size.
4. Combine cooperative learning with other classroom structures.
These four items are exactly what I did when making groups for my Health and PE classes. I made groups based off of the students timed mile, timed sit-ups, and consecutive push-ups done during a test administered the first week of school. I broke them into groups of 4 to 6 six students depending on on the class size. The students sit with their team in Health class, they line up and do warm-up activities in teams, they participate in team activities with their team, and they do group work in Health with their team. I have began developing more in depth group work assignments in order to utilize the teams fully.

All of these things give students responsibility in group work settings. A lot of students do not enjoy group work because they feel as if they do the majority of the work, however, in developing lessons that give each group member a job to do, all students are responsible for getting the project completed. This also allows me to grade more accurately because I am able to see who did what type of job on the project. Group work allows students the chance to learn from others while learning material and I think that this allows them to develop a stronger understanding of the material.

Trisha Smart (Faulkner)