Building Communication Skills and Safe Spaces

One thing that is really standing out for me is the fact that every student is involved in Cooperative Learning. The fact that everyone has a role, an important one that is necessary for the team to thrive is incredibly beneficial on so many different levels. The biggest element being that students are learning fundamental skills of how to work in a group or team, and on a bigger picture, how to be a productive member of society.  I think about Congress, or other groups of government and most of the time I am disgusted with how these seasoned adults don’t even understand the basic principles of discussing important topics and ideas with other people who don’t share their same views. Meetings on topics like abortion, gay marriage, and healthcare become heated arguments that score closely with ignorant temper tantrums. CL is a way to teach students content as well as basic ways of communication, teamwork, and how to work together. Looking at our “Let’s Make Squares” activity last week, there were a lot of ideas going on at my table, and we all had to voice them clearly and precisely in order to have each member move their pieces how we thought would be best. We had to be courtesy of each other, patient, and cooperative (lol).

 

Another element of CL that I think is wonderful is the praiser. I’ll be completely honest, it did feel weird to have someone cheerleading the group and it was very sarcastic. But after we actually overcame making four squares, we all became praisers. It really is so unlike us to say “Good Job” sincerely to someone else. Eventually, if we were to do CL regularly it would most likely become a basic part of our nature.

 

I feel like CL is something that is more likely to happen in elementary schools rather than secondary schools, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t. There just needs to be more building up and working towards getting high school students ready for CL. Little kids enjoy playing pretend, and are at an age where it just comes second nature to them to want to assume a role and run with it. But that magic gets beaten out of students with age. CL is something I’d want to wait to do with students after they’ve had some time in class. But its something I believe can help harbor a healthy classroom space and community. If I’m told I need to know my students, and I believe I want a safe space, then using CL to build up student’s self-esteem and making everyone feel a part of a group is how I can do it.