MODULE 3. BLOCK 5. Cooperative Learning

COOPERATIVE LEARNING STRUCTURES

Rally Coach  
 

Steps for the Strategy:

1. Pair Shoulder Partners. Determine who is A and who is B.
2. Present a problem for which there is only one correct answer.
3. Partner A solves the problem while Partner B coaches, checks the accuracy of the answer and praises.
4. If the answer is incorrect, Partner B coaches Partner A to the correct answer.
5. Present a new one-answer-only problem.
6. Partner B solves the problem while Partner B coaches, checks the accuracy of the answer and praises.
7. Repeat from step 1.
                          

REFLECTION

 

This technique needs modeling from the teacher so that children can underestand and put in practice the structure knowing the difference between coaching and giving the answer.

 

Rally coach provide learners with opportunities to develop different social skills, such as patience, requesting and offering help, giving and accepting praise, giving and accepting constructive criticism... Pupils learn to listen to the other person.

 

Feedback plays an important role in this cooperative structure as children practice how to give positive feedback in a meaningful way, provoking praise and in this way make it effective. Thus, this is also connected with motivation while doing the task.

 

Students also learn how to give guidance and act as a facilitator to other person.

 

This structure make children put in practice visible thinking skills, since they have to verbalize what they are doing to solve a specific problem, that is, they think aloud. This leads us to another point; pupils realize that there is not only one way to reach a solution, with this technique, they have the opportunity to see another perspectives and alternatives, and then they use higher order thinking skills, as they can compare and contrast a different way of thinking which is not its own with this last one.

 

Rally coach allows students to learn from one another, promote discussion in a more effective way and encourage learners to work feeling independent from the teacher.

 

However, it can be also found some disadvantages like the difficulty to manage the classroom providing guidance to every pair and helping them at the same time or the implication of a lot of modeling before puting this structure in practice.

 

EXAMPLE

 

Children in Math, 2º grade have started addition with carrying (suma con llevada).They follow this model in which is indicated units, hundreds and tens.

 

Students are given a handout with different additions and they have  to coach each other indicating the steps that they  follow to solve the calculation.