Team Building 1

It is really important for the entire classroom to be able to function as a group on various levels, classroom, groups of tens, groups of fours, and pairs. I've done a lot of Kagan training on grouping and questioning. I usually rotate groups so students get to work with different people. I also usually start the year off by having the students do a classmate scavenger hunt or a quick Q & A. It's important for them to get to know each other. But it never fails, each year I have one or two students who have no idea who they are sitting across the room from them, let alone who is next to them.

The one I used this year required only a ball of very cheap yarn and a question posed to the students. A student would take the end of the yarn, answer the question and toss the yarn across from them. Process repeats itself until there is a 'web.' It was preeddy.

Then I start with situations. "What happens if so-and-so does bla-bla-bla?" I will physically pull or move the student to get the web to pull or create slack that the others have to compensate for. Ahhh. There it is. It directly affects whomever is connect immediately with the student, but then that also can start to affect the rest of the web. "So, students, how do you solve the problem?" Ah-ha moment again.

This can be done a million ways and my gears are just going!
First days of class and creating your environment - My general rule is that one person can mess up the entire class. We have to keep each other in check.
Career Prep classes - Always opportunities to build teams and connect that to careers. Hey, it's what we all do.
Group introduction - I did this when my semester switched to foods and I wanted to make sure all the students understood the importance of smaller groups working together in their food labs.

I just loveloveLOVE assigning group projects.



It is ALWAYS appropriate to reiterate the lesson without re-doing the activity before going into grouping activities.

Remember the Alamo WEB!!!

Happy Team Building!