Cooperative
learning and you...and you...and you...and you...and you...
Sometimes I feel very old. My elementary schooling began about 1978
and I graduated form high school in 1991. Many things have changed
since then. During my years in elementary school and beyond most of
my learning was mostly via lectures. We sat there at our desks and
listened. Maybe took notes. Quizzes would spring up. We would write
book reports. And that was about it. There was so very little group
work. Cooperative learning was non-existent. Having read the text and
especially having researched my key assignment, I could not imagine
my future classroom being without a plethora of social learning
exercises.
I would have to say that the closest I ever came to experiencing the
concepts of social constructivism would be in my sixth grade class.
My teacher – Mr. O'Connell – had well honed question asking
skills. Instead of merely giving us the answers, he would always try
and get us to look at whatever problem we faced in a new light. His
scaffolding made us a group of thinkers and I owe him for helping me
to learn to see the many facets of a singular problem or issue. Which
in turn leads into...
Give
me an I! Give me a D! Give me an E – A -L! What's that spell?!?!
Having learned the skill of looking at problems in as many ways as
possible, I have always been pegged as being a negative person.
Especially in work environments, when faced with the possibility of
changes I have always looked at positives and negatives. For some odd
reason though, co-workers always seemed to center on my “negativity”.
It was never a matter of thinking that something will not work, it
was instead a way to seek out problems before they happened
and thus implement the smoothest and most efficient change as
possible.
Whether confronted with an issue at work or looking at a school
project that needs completion, I have always identified the problem,
figured out what needs to happen, examined options, contemplated the
end results, and reflected – welcome to my learning process.
Usually.
Open
the door and put him in.
Incubation – the ability to think before reacting or answering –
is an incredibly important skill to have and utilize. I have always
opted to think before I act. Life is usually much easier, or at least
less messy. As I was reading the topic I could not help but think of
the management exam that has circulated for years with questions such
as:
- How do you put a giraffe in the refrigerator? (answer: open the door, put him in, close the door)
- How do you put an elephant in the refrigerator? (did you say – open the door, put him in, close the door? Wrong. You have to take the giraffe out first!)
And
the line of questions will continue in a similar fashion. Often,
people tend to over think and over analyze things, when often, the
correct answer is the one that might be the least complex. Or, as
Sherlock Holmes said thanks to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, “...when
you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however
improbable, must be
the truth?”
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