Practical Ways to Create a Classroom Community

4 Activities to Facilitate Collaboration While Encouraging Individual Accountability

I was a very conscientious High School student; I worked hard, took my studies seriously, and aimed for perfection. I still remember the exasperation I felt as a student when I was assigned to a group project with a couple of deadbeat classmates who coasted along while I did all the work and then benefited from my hard-earned A. I vowed that someday, when I was in charge of a classroom, I would never do this to my students!

And, I never have.  Well, not since my first few years teaching, anyway.  

“Make learning truly collaborative, while maintaining individual accountability.”

Grades should be individual.

Group projects are valuable, but I believe grades should be individual.  It takes careful planning, but there are ways to make learning truly collaborative while maintaining individual accountability.  One way to do this is to give each group member responsibility for one component of a larger project. This can be effective, as long as project components are equivalent in evaluating student mastery.  Another technique is to have students conduct individual research (which is assessed) and then contribute their findings to a collaborative document. The Jigsaw technique, where students learn about a topic and then share their learning in a group where each student has studied a different topic, is an example of this individual research / group contribution approach. My Authentic Vocabulary lessons for French, Spanish, Portuguese, and ELL also use this approach. Students use an authentic target-language document (such as a shopping website) to research new vocabulary, which they then contribute to a group vocabulary list. These lessons on a variety of topics available on my Teachers Pay Teachers store, and read more about them in my Authentic Vocabulary blog post. This approach - individual contribution to a group collaboration - has the added benefit of creating student buy-in to the final product.

My favorite way to structure group work is to have students work together to create a product (a video, a piece of art, a skit, etc.) and then each student individually writes or speaks about their group creation.  For example, in my French 3 class students work in groups to create a film trailer.  Within the trailer, each student must introduce themself in character, hitting given rubric points, and this introduction is the basis for their grade.  This makes it easy to assess each students’ individual level of mastery while fostering true collaboration.  

Collaboration grades

It’s OK to include collaboration as a graded item if this skill was explicitly taught in class.  On projects like the movie trailer project above, I might add the rubric point “You collaborated with your group and helped every group member succeed”.  Think through how much of the project grade this should be worth; I suggest no more than 10% of the total grade. 

Reflection

Giving students opportunities to reflect on their own collaboration and to share perceptions of their group members is valuable in creating a culture of accountability.  Following a group project, I’ll usually ask students to agree or disagree with this statement: I did my fair share and helped my group be successful. I ask students to give an example to support their answer.

Next, students list their group members’ names and answer the same reflection question for each. I take these evaluations under advisement when assigning collaboration grades. Usually there are no surprises on these feedback forms, but once in a while I learn something interesting about group dynamics! In any case, the kids appreciate the opportunity to reflect, give feedback and voice their concerns.

Require students to learn names

Speaking of listing their partners’ names, I require students to learn their classmates’ names.  This expectation was born out of the teaching experience I mentioned in part 1 of this blog post. I had assumed students would automatically learn their group mates’ names; I was wrong. Learning names is an expectation that must be explicitly taught.

“ Many students slip through their day unseen; I don’t ever want a student to spend an hour in my classroom and not be addressed by name, cared for, and affirmed. ”

Learning your group members’ names is important.  It humanizes your classmates.  It strengthens relationships.  It draws in shy or withdrawn students; they can’t completely opt out or hide when their partners NEED the introduction.

I tell my students on the first day of class that they are expected to learn the names of everyone in their table group.  I often ask students to list name as a quiz question.  Each time we change seats, we revisit this expectation and take time to get to know each other a bit.  

On the final exam, I include a blank seating chart.  Any student who can fill it out 100% correctly gets extra credit.

This one expectation has done more to solidify relationships in my classes than perhaps any other.  So many students slip through their day unseen - invisible to their peers and often overlooked by well-intentioned but distracted teachers.  I don’t ever want a student to spend an hour in my classroom and not be addressed by name, cared for, and affirmed. Teaching students to see and acknowledge each other is a big step toward affirming every child’s value and place in my classroom.

There’s no magic formula

Collaboration and group work are difficult to measure.  Every student, and every mix of students is different, and there’s no guarantee the students in any given class will ‘gel’ into a cohesive learning community.  And regardless of how well you structure the classes, there will ALWAYS be stuff going on under the surface that you don’t know about.  This was always true, but even more so with social media.  There are things you can’t control, and your students also have choice in how they engage with classroom content and with their peers.

A few years ago, I had an upper level French class that I thought was great.  The kids were engaged, and the classroom was a challenging, happy environment.  Or so I thought, until a huge interpersonal blow-up between several students took me by surprise and ended up with three sets of parents, administration, and several school counselors involved.  Oof.

But wait, that’s not the end of the story.  Two years later, a boy who had been very hurt by the incident in my class sent me this wonderful message: 

Dear Mrs. Bartels, 

It’s been over a year and a half since I took French, so I’ve had lots of time to grow up. I feel like I learned a lot about life and friendships while I was in your classes and I’ve taken those lessons and applied them to my life today to make me a better version of myself. There was a lot going on behind the scenes of the class.... That’s all kind of unfortunate, but at the same time if none of that stuff had happened I wouldn’t be who I am now, so I thank you for creating an interactive environment where people really got to know each other for better or for worse. You played a big part in my academic success and my social growth!

“A thoughtful emphasis on classroom community helps students grow and thrive, both academically and personally.”

This was one of the best gifts I’ve ever received as a teacher! A thoughtful emphasis on classroom community creates an environment where students are able to grow and thrive - not only academically, but also personally. I hope this post is helpful as you think through ways to foster a true collaborative learning environment in your classroom!