AVReading Newsletter December: Small Groups
The use of small groups within our classrooms has a number of advantages. For starters, we know that students tend to learn more when they actively work to construct knowledge as opposed to when they are fed the information. We have also learned that co-constructing knowledge within a group tends to be even more effective and powerful. Additionally, we have learned that mixed ability groupings offer a number of benefits, bringing together students with a diversity of learning styles and backgrounds for a common purpose. And then there is the development of those “soft skills” of teamwork and problem solving, we often hear the business community and private sector tout as critical to their operations. Still, using small groups can be messy. Our Type A students aren’t often fans because they know that they could probably do the work in half the time if they could just d...