My cooperative teacher has offered choice to students
multiple times. This last Thursday, we were reviewing the three times table. My
teacher noticed that one student was having a difficult time competing against
two of her classmates in a game. She offered the student the choice to take a
minute to study on her own for a few minutes before joining the game, or
continue to play. She has also offered her class the opportunity to choose
their own rewards for good behavior, which promotes the behavior because they
specifically wanted it.
The cooperative teacher encourages a positive classroom
community by often having her students work in teams to complete in-class
assignments. In their reading center, they have the opportunity to discuss
insights that they may have about the book they are reading, and they learn
together as a group. She also scolds unkind behavior from student to student,
and never tolerates it (as doing so would create the impression that such
behavior was acceptable).
When it comes time to do Centers- which is around 2:50 every
day- the schedule is the same. The same groups go to the same centers first,
and then they rotate in the same order as well. Students know exactly where
they should be, and when they should be there. This supports a productive learning
environment because no time is wasted with the question "What do we do
next? Where do we go?" I've looked at her class schedule on the
whiteboard, and it is the same every day. This makes the most use of her time
with the class as it prevents the need to ask what they are doing that day.
Additionally, students are less distracted by daydreams of what they might do
that day, because they already know. Through this consistent schedule, a lot is
accomplished throughout each day.
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