A Teacher Fosters Social Competence with Cooperative Learning
Stacey Magnesio and Barbara Davis
Copied with permission from Childhood Education, Summer 2010.
Stacey Magnesio and
Barbara H. Davis
Stacey Magnesio is a 4th-grade teacher, Hays CISD, Kyle, Texas.
Barbara H. Davis is Professor,
Curriculum & Instruction, Texas
State University, San Marcos.
To cite this article: Magnesio, S. & B. Davis. A Teacher Fosters Social Competence With Cooperative Learning. San Clemente, CA: Kagan Publishing. Kagan Online Magazine, Fall/Winter 2010. www.KaganOnline.com
Miss Mag, do we have to work in groups?” “Miss Mag, I can’t work with him.” “Miss Mag, can I work alone?” Dodgeball tactics—duck, dart, and flee—seemed to be the game plan in my classroom whenever I wanted my students to work in groups. “Just try to work together!” I would say again and again. As a new teacher, I was shocked to find that most of my students didn’t know how to work in a group.
Many of my 4th-grade students had been together since kindergarten, yet they interacted as strangers. They struggled to keep their heads above water when it came to social skills and group work. And I was drowning, treading back and forth, student to student, trying to keep up. Week after week, I found myself spending more time talking about being team players and working together than I spent teaching multiplication strategies and writing good leads. My soapbox was becoming old and worn, and I was overwhelmed and tired.
Week after week, I found myself spending more time talking about being team players and working together than I spent teachingmultiplication strategies and writing good leads. My soapbox was becoming old and worn, and I was overwhelmed and tired.
Many teachers experience challenges when they place students in a group and expect them to cooperate. As Johnson and Johnson (1990) point out, “Simply placing students in groups and telling them to work together does not, in and of itself, produce cooperation” (p. 29). Trying to get students to work
Copied with permission from Childhood Education, Summer 2010.
Stacey Magnesio and
Barbara H. Davis
Stacey Magnesio is a 4th-grade teacher, Hays CISD, Kyle, Texas.
Barbara H. Davis is Professor,
Curriculum & Instruction, Texas
State University, San Marcos.
To cite this article: Magnesio, S. & B. Davis. A Teacher Fosters Social Competence With Cooperative Learning. San Clemente, CA: Kagan Publishing. Kagan Online Magazine, Fall/Winter 2010. www.KaganOnline.com
Miss Mag, do we have to work in groups?” “Miss Mag, I can’t work with him.” “Miss Mag, can I work alone?” Dodgeball tactics—duck, dart, and flee—seemed to be the game plan in my classroom whenever I wanted my students to work in groups. “Just try to work together!” I would say again and again. As a new teacher, I was shocked to find that most of my students didn’t know how to work in a group.
Many of my 4th-grade students had been together since kindergarten, yet they interacted as strangers. They struggled to keep their heads above water when it came to social skills and group work. And I was drowning, treading back and forth, student to student, trying to keep up. Week after week, I found myself spending more time talking about being team players and working together than I spent teaching multiplication strategies and writing good leads. My soapbox was becoming old and worn, and I was overwhelmed and tired.
Week after week, I found myself spending more time talking about being team players and working together than I spent teachingmultiplication strategies and writing good leads. My soapbox was becoming old and worn, and I was overwhelmed and tired.
Many teachers experience challenges when they place students in a group and expect them to cooperate. As Johnson and Johnson (1990) point out, “Simply placing students in groups and telling them to work together does not, in and of itself, produce cooperation” (p. 29). Trying to get students to work