Handbook for Poor Students, Rich Teaching © 2019 Solution Tree Press • SolutionTree.com
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CHAPTER 2
CONNECT EVERYONE FOR SUCCESS
In this second of three powerful chapters on the relational mindset, we’ll strengthen our skills in connecting everyone. Before we get started, use the survey in figure 2.1 to think about the connections you foster in your life and work and what they mean to you.
Figure 2.1: Assess the connections in your life and teaching.
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Every connection you have in your life influences you in some way, so it’s important to bring awareness of that into your classroom where you have a connection that affects every single one of your students, whether you are aware of its effects or not. To help foster these connections into something that builds up your students from poverty, this chapter establishes the fifty-fifty rule for in-class interaction and supports that with five collaborative strategies that are sure to make your classroom a richer learning environment.
The Fifty-Fifty Rule
During a typical school week, how much time do you have students devote to individual studies (including lecture time), and how much do you devote to collaborative learning between students?
Two key social elements have a strong effect on academic success: (1) belonging and (2) cooperative learning (Adelabu, 2007). In fact, a strong feeling of acceptance in class and school helps protect minority students from damaging, environmental, and social threats (Cook, Purdie-Vaughns, Garcia, & Cohen, 2012). The effect size of cooperative versus individual learning is 0.59 (Hattie, 2009). This gain is solid; over a year’s worth of difference.
To effectively impact academic achievement, teachers should split class time equally between social time and individual time—that’s the fifty-fifty rule. Most high-performing teachers use one or more of the strategies in table 2.1 to create social time for students and balance it with individual learning time.
Table 2.1: The Fifty-Fifty Rule
| Social Time | Individual Time |
| Cooperative groups and teams | Solo time for journaling and mind mapping |
| Study buddies or partners to quiz each other | Students practice self-testing |
| Temporary partners for summarizing time | Goal setting and self-assessment |
| Learning stations for social data gathering | Reading, reflection, and writing |
| Group projects for brainstorming and discussion | Seatwork for problem solving |
To help you implement this, use the lesson-planning worksheet in figure 2.2 to choose a daily lesson and some activities you plan to use with it. Note whether this activity constitutes individual or collaborative time, and then gauge how much classroom time you need to provide students to complete the activity.
Figure 2.2: Track time between individual and collaborative activities.
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Note that on any given day, you might split social and individual time seventy–thirty or even ten–ninety. The goal is to plan out your instructional activities so that, over a week, it all evens out. In the next section, we’ll take a look at the collaborative activities that enhance social time to connect for success.
Collaborative Strategies
Much of what makes social activity work (to the degree it does) is our own biology. We are not just driven to be social; we are genetically primed for it. Because of this, students’ emotional side gets a big boost when you add interdependency to lessons, which makes for more robust effect sizes. Interdependency means that student success depends on another student’s success, which raises everyone’s effort level. Four students in a cooperative group or team has a 0.69 effect size on student achievement (Hattie, 2009).
In the next section, I begin with strategies for building effective cooperative groups and teams that foster interdependency. In the sections that follow, we’ll look at some other ways to build interdependency in the form of study buddies, mentors, and temporary partners. As you implement these in your classroom, remember it takes time to build and maintain relationships. Be patient, and your students will benefit from the good that comes from them.
Cooperative Groups and Teams
Ultimately, teams are just structures, and by themselves, they will accomplish nothing. Your students need social cues, prompts, and systems to establish and guide productive group behaviors. Let’s break down how teams can work. In my middle school classes, teams of five seemed to work best. For elementary school, temporary cooperative groups of four or established teams of four work well. I have drawn the following ideas from many sources (for example, see Kagan, Kagan, & Kagan, 1997).
• Allow teams to be unique: Let each pick its own unique name, slogan, cheer, celebration, and logo. This builds social status and camaraderie. Give students time for each of these when building teams.
• Give everyone a unique and valued role: Roles engage more of the class and build positive interdependence (examples include summarizer, leader, personal trainer, stretch leader, energizer, joke teller, and courier).
• Set class norms for all group behaviors: This reduces students acting out and builds individual accountability. For example, share three things you expect every team to do, such as (1) contribute to the class, (2) be on time, and (3) support each other.
• Give the group occasional downtime: This allows for random acts of relationship building and fun. (Limit downtime to two to four minutes.)
• Ensure the team works together daily: Use procedures and rituals that involve everyone, every day. (You can learn more about designing effective rituals and find a worksheet to create some in chapter 18, page 191.) Foster equal participation using turn-taking that leadership and group norms regulate.
• Encourage friendly competition: This builds teamwork and effort and fosters identity. Consider the following ways to use friendly competition.
• Student groups
