BuildingWillThroughTeambuildingandClassbuilding

bySpencerKagan.
CooperativeLearning.

Whydoteacherswhodomoreteambuildingandclassbuildingobtainhigheracademicscores?
Teambuildingandclassbuildingcreatetheconditionsforlearning.Whenstudentsmeettheirneedsfor
securityandbelonging,theyarefreetoengageinhigherlevellearning.Disruptionsanddisciplineproblems
decrease,speedingupyourteachingandstudentlearning.Whenstudentsfeelsafe,known,respected,and
appreciated,theyenjoyschoolmoreandaremorepreparedtoworkhardandlearnwell.

Theamount,type,andtimingofteambuildingyouwilldoinyourclassroomdependsontheneedsand
characteristicsofyourstudentsandyourownvalues.Repeatedly,Ihaveteacherstellmethatwhentheyhave
doneextensiveteambuilding,thetimeoffacademictasksresultedingreater,ratherthanless,academic
achievement.Thisapparentparadoxhasareadyexplanation:Teambuildingcreatesenthusiasm,trust,and
mutualsupportwhich,inthelongrun,leadtomoreefficientacademicwork.

Ifthereareracialorothertensionsamongstudents,teambuildingisamust.Togoonwithcooperative
learningwithoutdealingwithsuchtensions,istorunaracewithlargepebblesinyoursneakers.Remember,if
youhaveusedtheheterogenousteamformationmethod,youhaveplacedstudentstogetherwiththosethey
wouldleastlikelychooseasteammates...andsoteambuildingwillbenecessary.

Notallteambuildingistimeoffacademicwork.Therearemanycontentrelatedteambuilding
activitieswhichservethedualpurposeofunitingtheteamandprovidingananticipatorysetand/or
distributedpracticeinalesson.Forexample,whenIwasaskedtodoalessononGreekHistorywithsome
studentswhohadneverworkedinteams,IfirstaskedthemtouseRoundtabletolistasmanysportsasthey
could.Next,followedaRoundtablelistingoftelevisionprograms.Ithenintroducedthetermscomedyand
tragedy,askedtheteamstodiscusswhichprogramswerehappyandwhichweresad.Theyweretodrawa
happyfacebythosewhichweremostlyhappy,asadfacebythosewhichweremostlysad,andbothfacesby
thosewhichwereboth.Thesesimpleteambuildingactivitieswereabridgeintothelessonaswediscussed
howthesportstheylistedrelatedtosportformsintheGreekOlympics,andhowthetelevisionprogramsof
todayhavetheirrootsinthetragediesandcomediesfirstdevelopedasanartforminGreektheater.

Ifthecooperativelearninglessonissimpleandfun,aswiththeFlashcardGameorNumberedHeads
Togethers,usuallylittleornoteambuildingisnecessary.If,ontheotherhand,thelessoninvolvesactivitiesin
whichconflictsmightariseitisimportantthatastrongpositiveteamidentityisdevelopedpriortothelesson.
Forsuccessincomplexcooperativelessondesigns,suchasCoopCoop,studentsmustdevelop
communicationskillsandgroupprocesseswhichallowthemtoworkwelltogether.

Ifthereisaracialtensionintheclassroom,orifthereisawidediscrepancyamongtheachievement
levelsofstudents,thenextensiveteambuildingisnecessary.Generally,primarystudentsshowlittlehesitancy
towardworkingtogether.Itisasadcommentontraditionalclassroomstructures,thanincreasedyearsin
schoolresultinanincreasedneedforteambuilding.

Therearefiveaimsofteambuilding:1.GettingAcquainted2.TeamIdentity3.MutualSupport4.
ValuingDifferences5.DevelopingSynergy.

1. GettingAcquaintedactivitiesareanythingwhichhelpsteammatesgettoknoweachother,
helpsbuildasenseofcomfortamongteammatesandasenseofbelonging.Itisimportantto
feeloneisknownandacceptedbyonespeers.

2. Ateamformsanidentitybydefiningitselfinauniqueway,suchascreatingitsownname,
cheer,orsolutiontoaproblem.Successfulcompletionofanyteamprojectcanenhancethe
senseofteamidentity,iftheteamisallowedtocompletetheprojectsinitsownuniqueway.
3. Itisnotenoughforstudentstoknoweachotherandtofeeltheyarepartofateam.Theteam
gainsstrengthasthemembersfeeltheycancountoneachotherforsupport.Anysituationof
positiveinterdependencecreatesthefeelingofmutualsupportasstudentsknowtheyareon
thesameside.Manycooperativesportandgameactivitiesprovideafeelingofmutualsupport.
4. Valueclarificationactivitiesaredesignedtoaccomplishthreethings:First,toclarifyforteam
memberstheirownvalues;second,toclarifyforthemthevaluesoftheirteammates;third,to
haveteammemberscometoarealizationthattheirisnorightandwrongtovaluesthat
valuesaretobeacceptedasenduringindividualdifferenceswithwhichtheteammustwork.
5. Synergyreferstotheincreasedenergyreleasedwhenindividualsareworkingincooperation.
Becauseofthesynergeticeffect,thegroupproductcanbebetterthantheproductofeventhe
bestindividualworkingalone.Thesumofthepartsinteractingisgreaterthanthesumofthe
partsalone.

Anotherwaytobuildwillintheclassroomisthroughclassbuilding.Classbuildingprovidesnetworking
amongallofthestudentsinaclassandcreatesapositivecontextwithinwhichteamscanlearn.Although
studentsspendmostoftheirtimeinteams,inthecooperativeclassroom,itisimportantthatstudentssee
themselvesaspartofalargersupportivegrouptheclassnotjustasmembersofonesmallteam.There
areanumberofwaystoimproveclassclimate.ThetwoprimaryapproachestoclassbuildingareClass
RestructuringandClassbuildingActivities.Bothapproachesprovidegreaterstudentempowermentand
ownershipandresultinafeelingthatthisisourclass.

Approach1:ClassRestructuring.
Howcanwepossiblyprepareourstudentsforfullparticipationina
democracybystructuringourclassautocratically?Itisanamazingfeatureofourdemocraticeducational
systemthatwehavesettledsouniversallyonanautocraticsocialorganizationofourclassrooms.Theteacher
istheCongress,(makingthelaws),thePresident,(carryingthemout),aswellastheJudge,theJury,andtoo
often,theExecutioner.Isitanywonderthatteachersfeeltiredattheendoftheday?

Wecanrestructureourclassroombyholdingregularlyscheduledclassmeetings.Thesemeetingsare
oneofthemostpowerfultoolswehaveforteachingmutualrespect,responsibility,caring,socialawareness,
cooperativeattitudes,anddemocraticprinciples.Theclassmeetingcanalsobeamajorsourceofsupportfor
theteacherasstudentsactivelystrivetoimprovetheclass,findsolutionstoproblems,andsuggest
consequencesforbehavior.

Wheneveraproblemcomesupwhichdoesnotneedtobesolvedimmediately,itcanbeplacedonthe
agendaforthenextclassmeeting.Inthemomentthisprovidesacoolingoffperiodandsatisfiesthestudents
thatsomethingisbeingdoneabouttheirproblem.Oftentheproblemissolvedbythestudentsbeforethe
classmeeting,andwhenthatitemcomesupontheagenda,studentsareaskedtosharetheirowncreative
solutions.

Problemsarenotjustconflicts.Atoneclassmeetingthestudentsworkedonhowablindboycould
participateinkickball.Whenthestudentshitonasolution,itwasusedfortheremainingyearsofthatchilds
elementaryeducation.

Unexpected,creative,studentgeneratedsolutionstoproblemscanoccurattheclassmeetings
becausemanyheadsarebetterthanone,studentsarelesstiedtotraditions,andbecausestudentsarecloser
tomanyoftheproblemsforwhichtheyaskhelp.

Approach2:ClassbuildingActivities.
Anotherapproachtoclassbuildingisrepresentedbyclassbuilding
activitiesandstructures.Someoftheactivitiesareexactlyliketeambuildingactivities,exceptoccuratthe
classlevel.Theblindwalkformutualsupport,ateambuildingactivity,canbetransformedintoaclassbuilding
activitybyhavingstudentsfromdifferentteamsgroup.Sotoo,withhavingaclassname,classlogo,classsong.
Classbuilding,liketeambuilding,canserveavarietyoffunctions:Creatingapositiveclimateinthewholeclass,
allowingclassmatestogettoknoweachotherwell,havingapositiveclassidentify,valuingindividual
differences,andexperiencingmutualsupportandsynergy.Anessentialpartofclassbuildingisforstudentsto
feeltheyknowtheothersintheirclassroomandthattheothersknowthem.Manyofthegettingacquainted
activitieswhicharedonewithinteamscanbeadaptedtotheclass.Butgettingacquaintedwith36otherscan
bequitedifferenceandalotoffun.Hereareafewexamples:
1. PeopleHunt.
Studentssearchforpeoplewhohavecertaincharacteristics:Favoritetelevisionprogram,
typeoffamilycar,favoritefood.Inoneversionstudentsfilloutaformdescribingthemselvesandthen
goonapeoplehunttofindotherswiththesamecharacteristics.
2. StudentCharacteristics.
Theteacherannouncesadimensionsuchascolorofhairorbirthdaymonths.
Everyonewiththesameanswerformsagroup.Theythendiscusspositiveandnegativeaspectsofthat
characteristic.
3. InsideOutsideCircle.
Studentsstandintwoconcentriccircles,withtheinsidecirclefacingoutandthe
outsidecirclefacingin.Theymakeaquarterrightturn.Teachertellsthemhowmanytorotate,they
faceapartnerandshareinformationaboutthemselves,suchasname,whereborn,favoritebook.
4.
RoundRobin.
Formcirclesofabouttenstudents.Oneatatime,eachstudentsayshisname,by
breakingitintosyllables,andaddingamovementorgesturetogowitheachsyllable.Inunison,the
grouprepeatsthenameandimitatesthemovements.Iffirstnamesgettooeasy,usefirstandlast
names.
5.
ClassLineups.
Studentslineupinorderofheight,birthday,alphabeticalorder,etc
6.
ClassCalendar.
Includebirthdaysandotherimportanteventsfromstudentslives.OneformatI
particularlylikeistohaveaclassnormaboutbirthdaycelebrations.Thepersonwhosebirthdayitjust
waschoosessomeoneelseintheclassroomtohelpplanacelebrationforthenextbirthday.
CelebrationformatgoesbeyondthetraditionalsingingofHappyBirthday.Rather,studentsare
interviewedbythecelebrationplanners,theyhavechoiceofafavoritecooperativegamefortheclass,
maybeallowedtoplaytheirfavoritesong,andaremadetofeelspecialinwaysdecidedbythe
celebrationplanners.
7.
FactBingo.
Abingotypecardismadeupwithlittleknownfactsaboutstudentsfillingthecells.
Studentscirculateandtrytofillthecardorgetbingobylocatingclassmateswhofitthedescription.
Classmatessignthecellwhentheyarecorrectlyidentified.
8.
MixFreezePair.
Studentscirculatethroughtheclasswhilemusicisplayed.Whenthemusicstops
(teacherpausesthemusic),theystop.WhentheteachercallsPair,theyformpairs,turntothe
personclosesttothem,andintervieweachotheronthethemeannouncedbytheteacher.Some
suggestedthemes:funvacation,placesIhavelived,petsIhavehad.
9.Hagoo(ComeHere).
Twoteamsofaboutadozenmembersstandfacingeachotheraverygiantstep
apart.Amemberfromoneteamstepstooneendofthegauntlet,andamemberoftheotherteam
stepstotheotherend.Theystareateachotheruntiloneissuesthechallenge,Hagoo.Theyareboth
towalktheentiregauntletwithaverysternfrown.Iftheysmile,theyarewonoverbytheotherteam.
Theobjectofthegameistowinoveralltheotherteammembers.Playerscannottoucheachother,but
theymakefacesandsaywhatevermightgetthefrowningpersontocrackasmile.