Session 2: Independent and Collaborative Work in Unit 4
15 minutes
discussion-based
Purpose
In previous asynchronous work we asked participants to reflect on their thinking about independent and collaborative work; this session is intended for participants to hear ideas from other people and then develop their own philosophy after hearing other perspectives.
Objectives
- Participants have developed a philosophy around when, how and why they will encourage collaborative vs independent work in class.
- Participants can identify biases they may possess about CS education.
Supplies & Prep
Workshop Modality:
- Whole group
- Breakout rooms
Facilitator Supplies:
Teacher Materials:
- None
Agenda
Asynchronous Work Connection (2 minutes)
Discussion (13 minutes)
Facilitation Guide
Asynchronous Work Connection (2 minutes)
(2 mins) Asynchronous Work Reminder
Remind participants of the work they did in the asynchronous portion of this module. This included:
- Looking over the Variables Practice and Make Lessons
- Thinking about the pros and cons of encouraging independent and collaborative work in classrooms.
Discussion (13 minutes)
(6 minutes) Introduce task
Producer support: Prepare to put participants in breakout rooms in groups of 4 for 5 minutes.
Show the equity framework and highlight Understanding Self.
Remarks
Today we are going to spend a bit of time building on the work we did over the summer to understand ourselves. Now we are going to consider when you are going to encourage collaborative and independent work in your classroom and how you can support that work as a teacher.
💷An important step for creating an inclusive classroom where students can work collaboratively and independently is examining our role in creating it. We bring our beliefs, experiences, and even biases with us when building a classroom culture. Even the best-intentioned teachers make assumptions about students and their readiness.
Facilitator Tip
This portion of the agenda requires you to generate a personal example in advance about when an assumption you made about a student was challenged. This is a great place to model vulnerability and engagement with the “Understanding Self” portion of the Professional Learning Equity Framework.
Facilitator shares a personal example of a time when their original assumption about a student’s readiness was challenged, and they changed how they viewed that student.
💷 Task:
- In your group decide on who will be the note taker and share-out person.
- Discuss and take notes on in your designated slide:
- Based on what you saw in Unit 4, when would you encourage collaborative or independent work during the Unit? Consider the different lesson types and the different times of the year and how that might impact your decisions.
- How can we check our implicit biases about students’ ability to work independently or collaboratively as we release responsibility to them in an EIPM sequence?
- Given your role and power as the teacher, what responsibility do you have to ensure that all students feel like they can succeed in your classroom?
Producer support: Put participants in groups of 4 in breakout rooms for 5 minutes.
As participants add to the slides, identify one idea or topic on each slide that you want to emphasize in the share out. You are looking for insights on the slide that address the equity dilemmas that may develop in either independent or collaborative work along with common themes that resonate across slides.
💷 (7 minutes) Share Out
Lead a share-out on each slide. Ask each group a specific question about what they wrote about their slide.
Helping to focus their summary around one question will allow you to “craft” a storyline that hits on the themes of when and how teachers will support students working in a variety of styles in their classrooms.