My Journey to be a Reflective Teacher

“Cooperative Learning means two heads learn better than one”, said Roger T. and David W. Johnson. Having students work together results in much more learning and like school better. To successfully create constructive environment, PRIOR is mandatory:

• Positive Interdependence
• Remarkable Interpersonal Skill
• Individual Accountability
• Ongoing Indirect Interaction
• Reflection

Making members of the group responsible for each others' learning can place great a burden on some students. It is often seen in mixed-ability groups, stronger students are left to teach weaker students and do most of the work. The diverse backgrounds that students experienced while being involved in cooperative learning may also create conflict. Additionally, some students prefer to work alone and apply ideas in isolation from others despite they are not disruptive through their lack of cooperation. As for teachers to use this strategy properly, they need to keep very detailed records of each student’s performance and spend considerable time calculating achievement scores.

I will use this strategy not once a while, but used over an extended period so I know my students better and develop the necessary group interdependence. First of all, I decide what content each student will focus on. Second, create rubrics to explain in detail how the learning of individual assessed and it is expected that they contribute to team by assist each other as well as cooperating to produce the best conclusion. Last, make every one reflect how their performance in the group. This too will help me assess each student’s performance.