How to promote effective collaboration in the classroom

Collaboration is all the rage in school communities these days. Anybody who has served in education longer than a cup of coffee knows it. More than 50% of school leaders say collaboration in classrooms is their 🔝 priority.

Collaboration not only improves students’ skills but also extends and complements their knowledge. Collaborative activities diversify the class and provide new possibilities for student development.

But there is an issue that sometimes there is no cooperation taking place. People are “meeting” instead. While collaboration has a positive effect on students, ineffective meetings don’t.

Here are 5️⃣ strategies to promote effective collaboration.

Divide the classroom into several groups 👥

A study found that collaborative practices are the most successful after introducing material. So, here’s a tip for you: after presenting some new stuff, divide the class into discussion groups of two or three. Then, in 10 minutes, ask for a representative from the group to share what they talked about.

Encourage students to work together 🥇

Often what students need is a little push to get them to work together. Extra credit or special rewards are seen as motivators. And, making collaboration an aspect of the curriculum makes students collaborate more effectively.

Partner with parents 👫

Open houses and parent-teacher conferences are great to bring in families. Using their influence to push for student collaboration in the classroom goes a long way.

Enable flexibility 😎

Switch standardized guidelines and procedures for greater learning independence. What works for one class may not work for another.

When students are working in a group, let them rotate between partner and small group tasks. Even a sometimes low-performing student has a lot to contribute to the group. This is a fundamental concept of interdependence. Each participant brings something unique to the table.

Try different technologies 💻

Technology is important in a remote learning environment, but also in the classrooms. It’s to keep students linked both inside and outside of the digital classroom. The students can use one of the many platforms where they can communicate with their peers. They may discuss their ideas through video or using a group chat.

We hope these activities will help students to collaborate and achieve their goals! 👍🏽

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