We're All in This Together: The Importance of Teamwork

Now that I have shared my belief of building a community in the classroom, I felt it important to discuss the second part of my three part magic formula to bringing ideas of camp into the classroom (I'm working on a patent as we speak...). As my title suggests, teamwork is something to consider when deciding how to frame a classroom environment. Although very similar to community in the way of creating a learning environment in which student support one another, teamwork offers another extra-special ingredient to the mix. To me, teamwork is the process of working together to solve problems. As I am sure you can imagine, teamwork is crucial when working in a camp setting, as there are so many stakeholders to consider and in order for the day to run smoothly, every person needs to work together. But even though those same things are important in the classroom, I feel teamwork is something we often overlook as teachers.

Now, I am not necessarily referring to feeling like you are part of a team, as I feel that I have covered that in my last post about community. What I want to talk about are ways in which you can can allow students to work together as a team to solve problems. I find that much of my teaching philosophy stems from Vygotsky's ideas of social learning as well as creating problem-based learning opportunities. I feel that our education system today reflects and supports these beliefs I have, but I have also witnessed an increase in individualized learning tasks in classrooms - but I can understand why! In most classrooms, there are very large gaps in achievement ranging from students who are several grade levels below expectation on IEPs to those who were gifted and needed constant extensions to learning tasks. So it is not a surprise to me that teachers prefer activities that allow for differentiated instruction, because it allows students to work at the level in which is best for them. In no way am I criticizing these methods - I believe DI is crucial in the classroom. However, I find that many students are losing those social skills because they have become so individually driven.

For example, in a task I did with my students, I had them work together to solve a patterning problem. Many of the groups erupted into arguments because they did not know how to go about dealing with differing opinions. This task showed me that before I continued with group work, I needed to have a discussion with my students about how to work together as a team. They needed to know how to be both active participants and listeners, they needed to know how to speak to someone with respect and they needed to know that in order to succeed they had to succeed together. I recognized that my camp experiences allowed to develop these skills, but young students may not have had the opportunities to do so. From this experience, I learned that creating an environment where students know what is expected of them in all types of activities would help them be more successful in the future.

How can we allow students to become a team in the classroom? There are many Team Building Activities you can use to start the conversation. But I also think creating problem based learning opportunities where students work in groups to solve issues can be very valuable. For example, Teachers Pay Teachers have an activity called Build a Boat that I would love to try in my future classroom!

Students need to learn that there is more to school and to life then competition and being 'the best'. Sometimes, they need a chance to know that we are all in this together - High School Musical style!

Monty, N. (2016). We're all in this together [Online Image]. Retrieved from.