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Laura Candler's Cooperative Learning Resources. What children can do together today, they can do alone tomorrow. ~ Lev Vygotsky, 1962 Cooperative learning is a powerful teaching strategy that's more than just a passing fad.

Laura Candler's Cooperative Learning Resources

Research has shown that when implemented properly, students in cooperative learning classrooms outperform their peers in traditional classrooms. The key is knowing how to implement the strategies to foster interaction while making sure all students are held accountable. Five Tips for Building Strong Collaborative Learning. Teachers share successful tactics for helping kids learn from each other with examples from math and English classes.

Five Tips for Building Strong Collaborative Learning

Students at The College Preparatory School often collaborate in groups, as in this math class where students work together to solve a set of geometry problems in the classroom (above), and then work in the same groups on a related project outside (right). Credit: Zachary Fink At The College Preparatory School (College Prep) in Oakland, California, student collaboration happens on a daily basis. Collaborative Learning Homepage. Collaborative Learning. CL1 - More Information: What is Collaborative Learning?

In the collaborative learning environment, the learners are challenged both socially and emotionally as they listen to different perspectives, and are required to articulate and defend their ideas.

CL1 - More Information: What is Collaborative Learning?

In so doing, the learners begin to create their own unique conceptual frameworks and not rely solely on an expert's or a text's framework. Thus, in a collaborative learning setting, learners have the opportunity to converse with peers, present and defend ideas, exchange diverse beliefs, question other conceptual frameworks, and be actively engaged. Collaborative Learning. According to Webster's Dictionary, a community is "any group living in the same area or having interests, work, etc. in common.

Collaborative Learning

" While communities have existed since the beginning of humankind, the growing interest around the concept today is largely a result of the breakdown of the geographic assumption underlying this simple definition. Most communities - whether online or off - share a number of qualities and characteristics: they are held together by distinct operating norms; members are distinguished by their formal and informal roles; trust must be built to ensure quality interactions; and a shared sense of purpose serves as the glue that bonds the community together.

Collaborative Learning Builds Deeper Understanding. Steve Chabon: Here at the College Preparatory School in Oakland, California, collaborative learning is one of the most important ways our students learn and grow.

Collaborative Learning Builds Deeper Understanding

Harrison: In math we work in groups every day, asking each other questions before we ask the teacher. Maya: In English, we lead our own round table discussions to deepen our understanding of the books we read. David Markus: College Prep is one of the top private high schools in the country and a terrific model for collaborative learning. The good news, their practices are both replicable and affordable. Starting a New School Year: Nine Tips for Collaboration. Late August or early September is a make-it-or-break-it time for educators.

Starting a New School Year: Nine Tips for Collaboration

The non-stop, brutal schedule that is a school year starts with all the finesse of trampling elephants, and doesn’t relent for the next nine months (not coincidentally, the same amount of time it takes to gestate a baby). That makes starting the year right important -- and there are few more critical pieces to an educator's success than collaboration. Collaborating In the Classroom 1) Call Home Yes, having a blog is great, and you're ahead of the curve if you use Edmodo, Facebook, Schoology or any other of a number of platforms built to help educators and families connect. Deeper Learning: A Collaborative Classroom Is Key. What's ideal when it comes to collaboration in our classrooms?

Deeper Learning: A Collaborative Classroom Is Key

Here's one coveted scenario: several children gathered at a table engaged in a high-level task, discussing, possibly debating an issue, making shared decisions, and designing a product that demonstrates all this deeper learning. As teachers, we'd love to see this right out the gate, but this sort of sophisticated teamwork takes scaffolding. It won't just happen by placing students together with a piece of provocative text or an engaging task.

(Heck, this deeper learning collaboration is challenging for most adults!) In preparing our students for college and careers, 21st century skills call on us to develop highly collaborative citizens -- it's one of the 4 Cs, after all. So how do we begin this scaffolded journey? Establish Group Agreements Deciding on group norms, or agreements, right at the get go will give each student a voice and provide accountability for all. Teach Them How to Listen Teach Them How To Negotiate. 12 Ways to Connect, Create, and Collaborate Using Google Hangouts. Going Global-Tips And Tricks For Global Collaborations. I had a wonderful conversation recently on Twitter with a teacher from New Zealand that commented on a tweet about using Skype Classroom to go global.

Going Global-Tips And Tricks For Global Collaborations

She mentioned how her students were going to Skype and talk to kids in Iowa. How awesome is that! I just love the fact that the world gets so much smaller when we use technology like that. Global Collaboration Projects for Your Classroom - Global Learning. Are you ready to integrate technology into your classroom for the first time, just not sure where to begin?

Global Collaboration Projects for Your Classroom - Global Learning

Or are you already using technology with your students, and you're ready to go deeper? Either way, the recommendation from Honor Moorman, Associate Director, Professional Development and Curriciulum, Asia Society, is the same. Use technology to engage students in a global collaboration project. by Honor Moorman As thought leaders like Chris Lehmann and Will Richardson often remind us, we need to do more than simply use technology to do what we've always done digitally.

Resources and Downloads for Collaborative Learning. Educators from The College Preparatory School in Oakland, California, have provided these resources and tools for collaborative learning.

Resources and Downloads for Collaborative Learning

Students work collaboratively in many ways to reinforce learning at The College Preparatory School (right), such as working together outside (above) on geometry concepts they learned the previous day in the classroom. Credit: Zachary Fink Tips for downloading: PDF files can be viewed on a wide variety of platforms -- both as a browser plug-in or a stand-alone application -- with Adobe's free Acrobat Reader program. Click here to download the latest version of Adobe Reader. The case for collaborative learning. Michael Moran , 16 Jun 2014 The way we design and structure training courses is in a state of flux as we move into the e-learning era and L&D professionals add “social” to the blend.

Credits - Project Me Project Based Learning Unit. 20 Collaborative Learning Tips And Strategies For Teachers. 20 Collaborative Learning Tips And Strategies For Teachers by Miriam Clifford This post has been updated from a 2011 post. There is an age old adage that says “two heads are better than one”.