Beyond Think-Pair-Share

A Quick Guide to Effective Collaboration

Christina M. Krantz, Laura Gullette Smith

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781000201581
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education Teaching Methods

This book shows you how to teach K-12 students to work in pairs and groups more effectively, so that true collaboration can happen in the classroom. Coming from their experience in social work and classroom teaching, Christina M. Krantz and Laura Gullette Smith explain the problems that can occur with traditional Think-Pair-Share models and offer refreshing solutions. They provide practical strategies to help students build collegial peer relationships, learn to share tasks, and hold deeper discussions. Each chapter offers useful strategies that you can implement immediately. This book includes an invaluable appendix of resources that the authors share when leading workshops, as well as rubrics, agendas, and classroom tools designed with the strategies covered in each chapter in mind.

1

How Do You Do It? Building Connections with Students

There is no denying the power of human connection. As human service professionals, we see the evidence of its importance every day. We see it in the happy, smiling faces of our students. We see it in how our students interact with each other. We see it in how our colleagues talk with one another. We can see evidence of the power of human connection literally just about everywhere. Unfortunately, we also see the devastating effects of the lack of human connection – in the news, on social media, and sadly, sometimes even in our classrooms.

Educators are being tasked with more and more responsibilities every day and, often, to do more with less. One of the biggest bang-for-your-buck strategies is cultivating positive and appropriate relationships with your students. We can all name a teacher from our past who made going to school worth it; a teacher for whom we would work just a little harder. When we’ve asked others about what made that teacher different, we get very similar responses: the teacher made class fun; they knew my name; they took an interest in me. These are all seemingly simple gestures that have a lifelong, lasting impact.

So, just how important are relationships in education? Again, we see the evidence every day in our schools. Just in case that’s not enough, numerous studies have shown the positive effects of the relational aspects of teaching. Students who have connections to school do better academically and have more academic resilience (Battistich, Schaps, & Wilson, 2004; Birch & Ladd, 1997; Curby, Rimm-Kaufman, & Ponitz, 2009; Ewing & Taylor, 2009; Hamre & Pianta, 2001; Rudasill, Reio, Stipanovic, & Taylor, 2010).

Research also shows that students who have positive school relationships are less likely to engage in all of those risky behaviors that schools have been tasked with eliminating. A reduction was noted in risky behaviors like smoking, drinking, drug use, violence, and early sexual activity (Blum, 2005).

Relationships aren’t just beneficial for students. Teachers benefit from them also. Teachers who have positive relationships with students are likely to be less stressed (Gregory, Allen, Mikami, Hafen, & Pianta, 2013) and are more likely to have high-achieving classrooms (Hamre & Pianta, 2006). Classroom climates will change as a result of teacher–student relationships. As students begin to feel more connected to their teacher, they will also begin to feel more connected to their fellow students. This results in a classroom environment where students feel safe and supported to engage in group work and to take risks in their learning.

Now, we know that sometimes developing relationships takes time. It can be difficult and exhausting. Some students are more resistant than others. We can all think of a student with whom we have worked who had no desire to connect with us, no matter what trick or strategy we used. Thankfully, the majority of our students come to school already having some experience with positive and caring relationships. This gives them a head start in school and with learning. Sadly, this is not the case for all of our students. What about the students who come to school with little to no experience of positive relationships? Studies show that the brain is negatively affected by the lack of positive relationships. Students who have negative or inconsistent experiences with relationships don’t have as many neural pathways in their brains (Child Welfare Gateway, 2015). This lack of neural connections makes it difficult to learn and develop positive relationships. The good news is that we, as adults, can make a positive difference in the lives of these students. It may not be easy or quick and it may be heartbreaking at times. Through the power of positive relationships, you can literally alter the makeup of someone’s brain! How cool is that?

Do you want to improve your classroom climate? Positive student–teacher relationships can help with that too! A study conducted by Donohue, Perry, and Weinstein (2003) found that when first-grade teachers had caring attitudes toward their students, those students were more likely to be accepted by other students. There is also research to support that students who struggle with aggression, but who have positive relationships with teachers, are more likely to be accepted by their classmates (Hughes, Cavell, & Wilson, 2001).

Establishing Boundaries

Whenever we talk about developing and establishing relationships, we get asked about boundaries. It seems like every couple of months, news or social media are sharing stories about inappropriate student–teacher relationships. Boundaries are absolutely necessary in any relationship, not just those that occur between students and teachers. Boundaries help to keep us safe professionally and personally. Here are some guidelines to establishing boundaries that we always share with our participants.

♦Boundaries should always be established at the beginning of a relationship. We’ve all been in situations where a certain behavior was acceptable one day and then, a few days, weeks, or months later, it wasn’t. Setting clear limits from the start helps to prevent confusion.

♦Talk about your responsibilities. Establish what you will and won’t do, as well as what you can and can’t do. We know some students will attempt to take advantage of your relationship by trying to get tardy notes to class or not turning in assignments on time. Letting them know ahead of time that your relationship is not a free pass for misbehavior or special treatment will help. If you find yourself saying you will do it “just this once,” you are more than likely violating a boundary.

♦Establish the limits of confidentiality. It’s vital for students to know that what they say to you will be kept confidential. It is equally important for them to know that there are limits to confidentiality. No, you will not tell everyone in the building that they like someone or that they still sleep with a night light. But you will have to tell someone if they disclose information that might sound like abuse or neglect, or that sounds like it could be harmful to self or others; you are mandated to share that information with others. Another note about the limits of confidentiality: It is not a two-way street where students are concerned. While we can and should expect students to hold information within the confines of confidentiality, that doesn’t mean that they will. If you decide to share a particularly juicy tidbit of information about yourself with a student, you can fully expect that it will have circulated around the building by lunch. Which brings us to our next point.

♦Decide how much information you are willing to share with your students. Students have an uncanny ability to catch us completely off guard with questions – often personal in nature. The last thing you want is to be leading a class discussion when a student asks if you drank before you were of legal age, or if you had premarital sex, or why you aren’t married – and not have any idea on how you are going to respond. It’s best to be prepared ahead of time and know how much and what topics you are willing to divulge.

♦Know what your district and school policies, procedures, and practices are when it comes to communicating with students. Does your district have a social media policy? What about communication with personal electronic devices? Are you allowed to text students? Send emails? Technology can create some sticky situations for teachers.

♦Consistency is key. Maintaining boundaries works best when you stick to them all of the time. When we are tired, stressed, or hungry – or even happy – we may be less likely to remember our boundaries and may let things slide. Know your limits and stick to them.

♦Whoever has the stricter boundary, gets to set the boundary. We have found that the best way to illustrate this is with an example. Christina is known around the office as a non-hugger. She’ll happily hug her children, and other family members, and that’s about it. Nearly everyone else in the office is pro-hug. Christina gets to establish the boundary for hugging because she has the stricter boundary. The same standard goes into effect when working with students as well. At times, their boundaries may be stricter than yours and vice versa.

♦Communicate your boundaries. Be upfront with people about your boundaries. Don’t be embarrassed about taking steps to protect yourself. Christina recently established some boundaries around technology, specifically responding to text messages and emails after work hours. Great idea, right? The only problem? She completely forgot to tell her colleagues that she would no longer be responding to work-related texts and emails after 4:00 p.m. Thankfully, a quick explanation cleared things up when she was asked about it. So, whether your boundary is around limiting technology use, or your policy on turning in late assignments, be sure to communicate it with those who are likely to be affected by it (colleagues, your students, and their families).

Respecting boundaries is vital in establishing and maintaining relationships. It can sometimes seem like having boundaries is at odds with the relational aspects of teaching. Having and maintaining boundaries provides protection for both students and teachers. When working with students affected by trauma or poverty, and students receiving special education services, you may need to be explicit with stating your boundaries. Be prepared to remind students about your boundaries and your limits more often in the beginning. Once students become more familiar with your limits, they should need fewer reminders. Strategies will be shared later in this chapter on how to connect with students while still maintaining boundaries.

Button Pushers

We all have experience with students, colleagues, and even family members who know exactly what to do or say to push us over the edge. It often happens quickly and without us really knowing it. One minute you are calm and collected, the next you are telling the student to leave the class and go to the office. In the world of trauma-informed care, these behaviors or words are called triggers because they set off an automatic reaction. Being aware of what causes us to have an automatic reaction, whether it be whining, disrespect, or bad grammar, can help us be more effective educators. It’s also possible that a boundary violation has taken place. If you are mindful about what behaviors are going to push your buttons, you can find strategies to help you stay calm when they occur. Strategies may include:

♦Taking a deep breath. Actually, taking three deep breaths. We know that having our students take a deep breath can help them to regulate their emotions. It’s no different for adults. It can help regulate your body’s stress response. Having the student join you in taking some deep breaths will benefit them also.

♦Counting to ten (or even longer if possible). Another strategy to help lower your body’s stress response is by taking a quick time out. Some studies show that when angry, IQ can drop between 10 and 15 points (Nadler, 2011). This is partly because your stress-response system has been activated. Taking a few seconds can help get your body’s stress response back to center and can give your IQ a chance to return to normal. It also gives you an opportunity to create an appropriate response to what is happening around you.

♦Changing your stance. At times, a subtle shift in your body placement can help you regain your composure. It could be as subtle as tilting your head to the left or taking a small step back. This can help signal to your brain that there is no threat and you can deactivate your stress response.

♦Getting a drink of water. Cortisol is a stress hormone that is released when your body’s stress-response system is activated. Water has been shown to reduce the amount of cortisol in your system (Nowak, 2017).

♦Reframing what is happening. Sometimes we get so caught up in confrontations or other situations with our students that we automatically see the behavior from a deficit-based model. What if we flipped it and looked at the situation from a strengths-based perspective? What if you were able to see a student’s defiance as determination? Their disruptive behavior as an eagerness to share? Their non-participation as being thoughtful?

♦Considering student boundaries. We’ve already discussed the...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Information
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Introduction
• Acknowledgements
• 1 How Do You Do It? Building Connections with Students
• 2 How Do You Do It? Building Connections between Students
• 3 Laying the Foundation for Collaborative Learning
• 4 Making Sure Your Students Have the Necessary Essential Skills
• 5 Collaborative Strategies for Effective Learning
• 6 What to Do When Things Don’t Go as Planned
• Appendix A Strategies at a Glance
• Appendix B Additional Resources