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Students Can Get Work Done in Groups | Edutopia

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a combination English, economics, and government course at Sacramento New Technology High School, in Sacramento, California

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nothing is more cognitively and physically taxing in the project-learning environment than managing student work groups

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Groups, Lawler says, "are the Ferraris of work design. They are high performance but high maintenance and expensive.

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The biggest mistake people make when they put kids into groups is that they don't give them proper training on how to work together," says Newman, who teaches geography. "If you provide them with the skills to communicate, ask one another questions, and use their peers as resources, they learn much more.

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English-geography class

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proper training on how to work together

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Newman and Coit start the year off by doing a number of team-building and icebreaking activities.

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Each student then volunteers to take on a specific leadership role, such as being the group scribe (who is responsible for taking notes and paperwork), the marshal (who keeps the team on schedule), and the liaison (who interacts with the teachers on the group's behalf).

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Coit and Newman also recommend setting aside class time every day for students to discuss what they've accomplished and what they plan to work on the next day.

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in order to get everyone on the same page," explains Coit. "The project-management plan requires a similar process, but it's between the group members; they talk about what they're creating, how they're going to do it, and what their individual roles will be

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when students form new groups -- is the ideal time for team members to establish agreed-on group norms for decision making and communicating with one another, and the consequences of violating those norms, which makes it easier for both the students and teacher to manage the group process if it veers off track.

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Part of the collaborative process is the ability to create a cohesive product, one that looks like one person made it."

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encourage the other person to tell you his story

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to communicate diplomatically

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to convey to students that when someone wants to make a point to a team member, he or she should do the following: "State the facts, tell your story, and encourage the other person to tell you his story."

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