From Rows to Riches – The Invaluable Concept of Teams
It was 2010 and I was a rookie elementary school teacher who had just finished my second year in the classroom. Although my second year was better than my first year, I couldn’t help but struggle with the bitter reality that I didn’t learn everything I needed to know about being a teacher when I attended higher education — to become a teacher! I had amazing support from my grade level peers, my mentor and school administration, but I knew I needed more help. Although I had a firm grasp on the academic standards and instructional practices, classroom management and student engagement were areas I desperately needed assistance with.
My school district offered a number of professional development opportunities over the summer including Kagan Cooperative Learning and Win-Win Discipline. After I read the descriptions of the Kagan trainings I registered immediately and was hopeful that I would learn how to create a more structured environment where my students (and I) would thrive in the classroom. I would rather invest ten days of intense training in search of solutions to my problems than repeat costly mistakes from previous years. Training registration was on a first come, first served basis, I was fortunate enough to land a guaranteed spot on the roster for both five-day trainings before the seats filled up. The Kagan trainers, course content, and materials from the trainings were worth their weight in gold, and the growth as an educator for my students the following years was priceless.
After I completed both trainings, not only was I hooked on all things Kagan, but I was also able to recognize which components my classroom lacked, and more importantly what changes I would need to make. I had direction — a plan of action! As soon as I got the key to my classroom, I unstacked the tower of desks in the far corner. I embraced change, leaving my old habit of placing the desks in rows behind and arranged the desks in teams of four just as I learned in the Kagan trainings. This was my first step in the right direction of creating a space conducive to a culture of community and cooperative learning that my students and I had needed. From that point on, all the other key concepts fell easily into place.
Teams is one of the seven key concepts of Kagan Cooperative Learning. Throughout all Kagan workshops, participants spend a great deal of time engaged in Teambuilding structures. Teammates establish positive relationships with one another and process workshop content using pair and team structures. During Cooperative Learning, participants experience the various ways teams can be formed (such as random teams, Pairs-Pair,) in the classroom. The Team Formations module scaffolds participants through creating heterogeneous groups, systematically with ease, which made me feel confident about following the process on my own after the workshop was over. The process is data driven; however, it provides flexibility for teacher discretion when considering students’ needs. Chapter 7 in the Kagan Cooperative Learning book provides a comprehensive breakdown of the concept from Team Basics to Parting Activities when it’s time to create new teams. Over the years to create classroom teams I’ve favored using the card sorting method, the sticky note method, and Kagan’s TeamTools software which is easy to use and convenient for secondary classrooms with multiple class periods.
During the training, I adopted valuable classroom management tips using the arrangement of students sitting in teams as opposed to sitting in “traditional” rows. Each seat in every team is numbered one through four. Depending on the size of the class you may have a team with three or five students. I no longer passed out materials one by one to each student. Instead, I instructed all number 1s from each team to retrieve materials from a centrally located area in the classroom for their teammates. At the end of each day students knew their role and responsibility: 1s stacked the chairs, 2s collected and sharpened the team pencils, 3s tidied the Team Totes and checked the floor for trash, and 4s wiped the team desks down with sanitary wipes. Students learned the “See Three Before Me” rule and gained positive interdependence among their teammates. I no longer found myself darting between the helpless hand raisers after explaining a task. Instead of calling on one student to answer a question, I implemented a structure within the team and students shared their answer with their shoulder partner, face partner, or their entire team. This increased student engagement! This may seem like minor adjustments and simple procedures, but the minutes saved by managing materials and responsibilities in this manner added up to gains in instructional time. Undesired behaviors decreased because everyone was now held accountable by their peers, not just the teacher. Every student in the class was part of a TEAM and played an integral part of taking ownership of the learning and the basic functions within the classroom.
I noticed the students’ basic needs were being met within the teams which had a positive effect on academic growth and achievement. My attention seekers had their time to shine amongst their peers. Students who struggled with the fear of failure found safety and encouragement from their teammates. The student who often felt bored or uninformed had others nearby to seek assistance from, if their face partner or shoulder partner wasn’t already keeping them on task. My students who tended to control others began learning and respecting boundaries, as did my students with an abundance of energy. The relationships of the teams grew, and I noticed more tolerance from students who would normally get angry in certain social situations, such as waiting for their turn.
Changing my classroom seating arrangement from rows to teams allowed me to facilitate student engagement and manage more sufficiently. I can still recall the summer of 2010, after completing Kagan Cooperative Learning and Win-Win Discipline for the first time, feeling incredibly grateful for the knowledge and tools I gained that would drive my instructional practices and professional goals from that moment on. The progress made by my students in our cooperative classroom community, and my progress as their instructional facilitator all began with the invaluable concept of Kagan Cooperative Learning teams.