academic and more behavioral. For example, what group is the fastest to get cleaned up at the end of class, who has the most team spirit, who will be the first to learn everyone’s name in class, who has the best team cheer, or who has the coolest name?
• Students can compete against either the teacher or an outside force (another school, class, or virtual team)—an “us against the world” mentality.
• Student teams can compete against themselves. They record and display their prior scores or marks, and each week they try to best their last score.
For cooperative groups and teams to be most effective, coach the team leader, and ask him or her to coach and teach the team how to improve. Make it clear to the groups that this is the leader’s role. Reciprocal teaching (students teaching peers) has a strong effect size of 0.74 (Hattie, 2009). To help you form cooperative teams among your students, use the planning sheet in figure 2.3.
Figure 2.3: Sheet for forming cooperative teams.
Visit go.SolutionTree.com/instruction for a free reproducible version of this figure.
Study Buddies
At the beginning of the year or semester, many teachers set students up with a semipermanent study buddy who takes responsibility for the success of his or her partner in that class. The students share phone numbers and email addresses so they can call, text, and email. When done well, study buddies tend to form a sibling-like relationship. As a teacher, create stakes in the relationship. Say, “If you want an A or B, you must help your partner get an A or B.” If one passes a test and the other does not, it’s a shared failure. A teacher who uses this strategy finds it helps students at the secondary level build relationships and learn to help one another.
Study buddies should sit next to each other in class and share key content as well as be a cheerleader for the other. They will each know the other’s progress and be mindful of changes in progress. Both can sign off on this process with their parents and the teacher. Give students time to make plans for what to do next after getting feedback on a quiz or any other formative assessment.
One way to assign study buddies is to have students write out a passion related to the subject area on an index card. That year or semester, students will work with another kindred soul who shares the same passion for change or a specific topic (Henderson, 2012). Using language arts as an example, you could have students complete the statement, “What I think needs changing in this world …” Figure 2.4 provides a template for a student contact card.
You can have students fill out cards like figure 2.4, collect them, and use them to sort students into similar interests and passions. You can pass out each student’s card to his or her partner and have them spend a few minutes getting to know each other, so that every buddy already knows the best way to contact each other.
Figure 2.4: Study buddy contact card.
Visit go.SolutionTree.com/instruction for a free reproducible version of this figure.
If students don’t want to work with the partner you assigned, give them some more time to work through the issue at hand using some collaboration-building tools like the one in figure 2.5 (page 24). Allocate relational time in your class to help students get to know their partner. Use simple one- to two-minute activities, and rotate them. For example, you could provide students with figure 2.5 and have them work together to answer just one question about each other’s academic strengths, areas where they need help, or something that was important to them while growing up. Then provide them with it again the next day or week and have them tackle the next question.
These question activities help students build trust with others and give them a moment to exchange likes and dislikes. Additionally, pairing this activity helps with communication and conflict-resolution skills. Changing partners won’t solve the problem if a student doesn’t have the social skills to work with a partner. I provide further conflict-resolution strategies in Poor Students, Rich Teaching, Revised Edition (Jensen, 2019).
Student Mentors
Student mentors are also powerful. Every student can benefit from receiving guidance, encouragement, and leadership from someone who has more experience. Fourth graders can mentor second graders, eighth graders can mentor sixth graders, and eleventh graders can mentor ninth or tenth graders. Have students use the worksheet in figure 2.6 (page 24) to have them reflect on how a mentor guided, encouraged, and helped them.
For secondary students, set up a partnership with local colleges or universities for undergraduates to mentor (or tutor) juniors and seniors. For example, undergraduates can tutor students for forty-five minutes after school. High-poverty schools in Los Angeles used collegiate mentors for fourth and fifth graders with solid success (Coller & Kuo, 2014), noting that mentoring programs appear to be useful in promoting social relationships (with parents, mentors, or peers) and reducing conflict. Other mentoring programs have shown significant positive changes in youths’ relationships with parents and teachers and were significantly associated with better youth outcomes, including self-esteem, academic attitudes, prosocial behaviors, and less misconduct (Chan et al., 2013).
Directions: Fill out each other’s name over a column, and then take turns having your partner tell you his or her answer to each question. Write down your partner’s answer in the column under his or her name.
Figure 2.5: Relationship-building tool.
Visit go.SolutionTree.com/instruction for a free reproducible version of this figure.
Figure 2.6: Mentoring reflection sheet.
Visit go.SolutionTree.com/instruction for a free reproducible version of this figure.
Temporary Partners
Even well-managed teams and partners can get stale, so to freshen up the learning and social experience, teachers can use temporary partners. One way to effect this is to engage elementary or secondary students in a simple walk-and-talk activity.
Oh! I’ve got a great idea that should only take a minute. Please stand up. Great! Now, when the music begins, and I say, “Go,” please touch three walls and four chairs that are not your own. Once you get to the spot, wait for further directions. Ready, set, go!
Now that you’re in a new spot, look around, point to the person nearest you, and say, “You’re it!” If you still need a partner, raise your hand. That new person will be your temporary neighbor for the next sixty seconds. Now that you have a partner, here’s your challenge. Earlier we were discussing __________, and it’s time to finish that.
You can then introduce the activity, such as students acting out a pro-and-con role, summarizing
