Rules to Rule Playing Games in Small Groups – Virtually I’mPossible Presents: Lazy Learning Land Teacher Podcast
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Collaboration, Collaboration, Collaboration. It simply does not matter what teaching model you use, or what strategies you prefer. Collaboration is an overarching theme in almost all of them.
Much like many things in education, collaboration sounds amazing, in theory. However, in practice it could potentially turn out to be a total disaster. Majority of teachers lack the classroom structures to implement collaboration without chaos.
I am in love with collaboration. So much so that I have built 2 of 5 Lazy Teacher Laws I live by, on it. Lazy Teacher Law #1 Believe in a Culture of Child Labor, and Lazy Teacher Law #3 Teach Your Students to Fish. With that being said, I want to pass on some of the rules, I use to rule playing games in small groups on to you.
Solid Instructions
It is the night before you use your activity with your students. You have been envisioning how great things are going to go. How much the students will be engaged, and how much they will learn. Fast forward to the next day in class, and little to nothing is going right. Or maybe some things are going well, but others, the students just can’t seem to get right.
“What in the heck happened,” you start asking yourself. Well, the answer to this is, not enough happened. The rules to rule playing games in small groups requires solid instructions. Not just solid, but solid, thorough, and repeated instructions.
Game Instructions & Academic Instructions
In order to dot every I, and cross every T, you have to be explicit with everything. Firstly, how to play the game you are using. Be sure your instructions are written and posted as a visual for students to look at. They should be reading along with you, as you explain in words what is expect. One without the other may be “easier” for you, but do understand, , most of your students will not fully comprehend what your expectations are.
I have found it to be super helpful if you reiterate the academic portions of how to play. Mainly I am referring to what do you expect to see and hear, when it pertains to the academic components of the game. Afterall, this is an academically based activity, and that part needs to be emphasized the most.
What is expected when they are working on a problem? How will they submit their answer? What happens if they get it incorrect? What happens if they get it correct? Are they supposed to copy any information into their personal notebook? If so, when? Spell it all out for them. Again, both verbally, and in written format.
Instruction Comprehension Checks
The last part of having solid instructions when playing games in small groups, is to give comprehension checks before starting the game. What I mean by that is, ask them what should they do during various parts of the activity. For instance, “How do you select a question to answer,” “How do you submit your answer,” “What does your team do if you get it incorrect,” “Who gets to move your game piece,” “When do you write in your notebook,” “What should you be writing in your notebook,” etc.
Doing this, helps to solidify majority of your students understand your expectations. The great part about it is, if one student in that group is unsure about something, one of the others will be able to chime in and assist.
Give Every Student a Role
I whole-heartedly believe that kids dislike group projects, almost as much as many of us adults dislike them. The most common complaint, is that someone does not pull their own weight. For this reason I keep my groups anywhere between 2-4 students. This allows me to give every student a role.
In order to increase individual buy-in for collaboration in small groups, each student has to feel important. When a student gets the idea that they can slip into the shadows undetected, 9 times out of 10, they are going to take it. Individual roles helps to prevent that. Mainly because, if the role they are responsible for is not being fulfilled, you as the teacher, or their peers will notice.
Types of Roles
The type of activity you use when playing games in small groups, will ultimately determine the roles that you need. For the most part I allow the students to decide amongst themselves who gets what role. Some of my staple roles I use for most activities are as follows:
- Team leader– responsible for making sure all group members are on task, on topic, and only speaking to their group members.
- Materials Manager– responsible for gathering the game materials at the beginning, making sure their group is using them properly during. At the end checking that all items from their group are still there, and puts them back neatly.
- Communicator– The only person from the group that raises their hand, and communicates any questions the group may have. For other activities, they are the person that brings me their whiteboard for me to check their work. Also, they must report to their group any hints or feedback I told them during our chat. Essentially, they are the liaison between the teacher and their group.
- Writer– This is the student that is responsible for writing on the whiteboard for their group. They are the only person allowed to write on the whiteboard. Usually I designate this student myself. Sometimes it is one student other times I select two students and tell them to alternate each question.
For the writer, I select the student that is more prone to zone out, be less engaged, or who has the tendency to sit and do nothing. Other times they are selected because out of everyone in their group, they tend to struggle more than others.
I refrain from allowing my stronger students to be the writers. Instead I charge them with the task of being philosophers. Click here, for more details and tips on having student philosophers.
Time Keeper– If we are doing an activity where they only get a certain amount of time on each question. The time keeper informs their group of the time remaining before they must submit their answer.
Game Master– Depending on the type of activity, this student gets to come to the SMART Board to roll the dice, spin the spinner, pick a card, move their game piece, etc. In essence they are the person that handles the game portion of the activity.
Technology Specialist– If it is an activity that requires students to use a laptop/tablet, this student is responsible for pulling up the website or tools required for the game. They will also be the one to type, click, and navigate the device during the activity.
Keep a Focus on Academics
The rational behind making learning fun by playing games in small groups, is to trick students into learning. To have them so focused on the aspect of the game, that they are willing to try any question you put in front of them. Allow your students focus to be on the game component, while you keep your focus on the academic component.
The students access to the game portion should be directly tied to either them trying a question in a certain time frame, correcting it when you all go over it, and if they are correct, they get to take their turn in the game. The other academic focus could be on them trying a problem repeatedly, while receiving your feedback, until they get it correct. Once correct, they will copy it into their notebooks before moving on to the game play portion.
Did you notice the common theme? At some point students should be trying and correcting. Trying and correcting must come before students are able to participate in the game portion. Emphasize your academic expectations of what you expect to see and hear as the groups work collaboratively.
Monitor & Redirect
The last of the rules to rule collaboration in small groups, is to Monitor and Redirect. When it comes to monitoring, you will need to monitor for compliance of rules and procedures, as well as monitor in order to give academic feedback.
Whenever you encounter a student, or group that is out of compliance with a rule or procedure, you will need to redirect them. Save yourself some energy and ask them questions regarding the expectations you have already mentioned. By allowing them to come to the correct conclusion on their own, it saves you energy, and provides a greater level of accountability.
Conclusion
In today’s classroom, if you want to be an effective teacher, you must incorporate collaboration. In order to keep students engaged, and willing to try whatever you put in front of them, you will need to incorporate playing games in small groups.
The idea of collaboration can be fantasied about. However, if you are not properly prepared, or do not properly prepare your students for it, then collaboration can be a total and complete disaster. Explicitly stating instructions both verbally, and in writing is essential to combat this.
Each student needs a sense of buy-in and belonging. Use student roles to ensure everyone in the group has a way to positively contribute. Allow your students to focus on having fun. As the teacher, you keep your focus on the academic side. Make sure that your are not skipping over the academic component, in the mist of your students having fun.
Redirecting students is inevitable. While monitoring, you will surely see or hear something that needs addressing. Be sure that you address it. But help the students to correct themselves. When you have these rules solid, your collaboration dreams, can now be a reality.
If you are looking for secondary math games that students can play collaboratively, check out my Digital Tic-Tac-Toe series here
