Working Together as a Community of Learners
I developed the social-emotional competencies of my students primarily through meaningful group work. In these assignments, I made a point to make sure that there was a balance between the autonomy of the group member (meaning that each member has a job that they are responsible for) as well as accountability to the group (a group mark that informs the final mark of all group members). I emphasize that the process is just as important as the final product; if a group created a masterpiece but squabbled with each other the whole time and needed to throw it together at the last minute, they would not be getting a good mark on this assignment.
Causes of World War I Project (Social Studies 11)
For this project, students researched independently one of the causes of World War I and how it contributed to a country's involvement in the war. In groups of four, students would combine their findings in the form of a picture book that they would then use to answer a set of response questions.
Click here to see a more detailed description of the project, how the work was assessed, and my reflection on its overall effectiveness.
Click here to see a more detailed description of the project, how the work was assessed, and my reflection on its overall effectiveness.
Group Short Story Project (Junior English)
For this project, students would work in groups of six to plan, draft, and write a short story. Students can write on any topic of their choosing, as long as their group could agree upon it and as long as their story includes all the assigned plot elements. Each student would be responsible for writing a different section of the story and the group would be given a mark based on how well they were able to compose a cohesive story out of the sections that were written by different group members. This would be an exercise in creative writing as well as cooperation, as a significant amount of discussion and compromise would be required in order to create a story that all group members could be happy with.
Click here to see a more detailed description of the project.
Click here to see a more detailed description of the project.
Interview an Elder Project (ELA New Media/Sm'algyax)
This was a collaborative assignment that I designed with our school's Sm'algyax (Culture and Language) teacher. In this assignment, students worked in pairs to interview a Gitxaala elder in our community about local history, traditions, and stories. Students were then to present their findings from their interviews in the form of a written reflection.
Click here to see a more detailed description of the project and my reflection on its effectiveness.