Collaboration -- Yaaay!!!

So, I said I was going to try something new--I was going to take away the headphones and have them work in pairs when watching the video with the speakers on the Chromebooks, in hopes that this would spark communication and collaboration. It worked!

I had them pair up, watch the video, then come to me with their summaries. When a pair came up with different summaries, I turned them away to come up with a master summary. I was able to talk with each student and read their thoughts. It was a pretty easy section, but couldn't have started off any better. The other two classes will try their hand at it tomorrow.

I took a poll, 1-5, of how they liked it and got 8/12 5's. One student, who has been having troubles focusing and completing tasks gave it a hearty 5 with a big smile (and I think a big look of relief). The 1's and 3's came from people who like to work independently. When I told them they'd be working with a different partner tomorrow, they all said they'd give it a zero. Hahaha! We'll see.

Pros
It wasn't something I considered ahead of time, but their not having their headphones in allowed me to sit down and discuss with them without feeling like I was "interrupting". Definitely a pro. Allowed me to feel like a teacher again. ;)

Cons
Not sure. None? It took the slowest group 40 minutes to watch a 15-minute video and summarize. But I've noticed it always takes the slowest longer than I think and they don't seem to be off task. I guess I'll just keep on keepin' on and let them take their time.

What I Would Have Done Differently
Nothing? It went extremely well and we were even able to have a mini-lesson at the end so I could throw out some things that weren't on the video.

What I Will Do in the Future
Tomorrow, we'll be playing Desmos Polygraph to cement the vocabulary ideas!!! One of my favorites! We will also start applying, applying, applying!