Why Group Work Is a Must in Your High School Math Classroom

The first day that I do group work when I ask my students to get into groups, they look at me like I have three heads. It’s a simple task, but it is out of the normal routine. Once they figure out the expectations for group work, it becomes more natural. By working in groups they are taking responsibility for their own learning, which is essential for success in high school.

benefits of group collaboration

Students (specifically Gen Z) are very helpful and supportive classmates. It always warms my heart when I see my students helping each other. The students who are helping others are showing their mastery of a concept through their explanations. On the other hand, the students who are asking for help are developing their self-advocacy and engagement. Collaborative activities also give students the opportunity to progress essential social skills, such as, team work, communication, and time management.

breaks up the day to day routine

Group work is a great way to chunk up a class period. My school has 80 minute periods, which is a VERY long time to ask a high school student to work on one activity. This was one of the first things I learned the hard way as a first year teacher. Seriously, I couldn’t have my students go more than 25 minutes on one activity without having kids bouncing off the walls. 

There are so many great ways to structure group work. Stations or centers are a great option where the students are doing different activities at the same time. One group will be doing independent work (I like digital activities for this), another will be working with the teacher, and the last group would be doing a collaborative assignment or working together. If you don’t have the time to do all three stations, you can dedicate 30 minutes to small group work, so that each individual is working on what they need on that day.

individualized support

With a class of 25, it’s nearly impossible to give each student individualized support consistently. When the students are working in small groups, it is much easier to get a sense of each student’s understanding.  The conversations are more personable and the students feel comfortable asking questions. 

Another way to incorporate individualized support is through mini conferences. If I have set my expectations from the start and the students are able to work independently, I have the time to meet with each student one-on-one. During this time, I like to go through any missing assignments that a student might have and help them with the work they are stuck on. So often I find that my students don’t know when to ask questions and this conference time gives them the perfect opportunity.

differentiation

I struggled a lot with closing the gaps in my classroom and wasn’t sure exactly how to differentiate effectively. Through lots of trial and error, I found a few strategies that worked for me. While I was teaching in a hybrid model last year, I grouped my students into “pods.” Each group was working at different paces because some students would show up after three days at home with nothing completed. I usually prefer to do random groups, but this strategy was really working for me at the time.

I also have lots of differentiated activities that I can assign to my students. When they are in small groups, no one is paying attention to exactly what the other group is working on allowing for more subtle differentiation. These activities are differentiated using prompting questions, verbal sentences, and chunked questions. This has been one of the major benefits of group work in my classroom. Here are a few examples of what these activities look like: