Teachers have vital role in the teaching and learning process and to effectively facilitate learning for our students the use of strategies is necessary in encouraging each person to participate and help keep the group positive and enthusiastic. How are we going to apply the use of cooperative learning?
We simply specify the academic and cooperative objectives for the lesson and activity. Make decisions about placing students in learning group prior to the lesson activity in relation to group size, assigning members to group, arranging the rooms, planning the materials to be used and assigning roles to group members.
We have to clearly explain the task and goal structure to the students. The goal structure maybe in relation to positive interdependence leading to peer encouragement and support, individual accountability and inter-groups cooperation, criteria for success and specifying desired behaviors.
Teacher should also monitor the effectiveness of the groups and to intervene in order to provide assistance or to increase students inter personal skills by monitoring students behavior, providing students assistance, intervening to teach collaborative skills and providing closure to the lesson.
And eventually to evaluate students achievements and help students evaluate themselves they must focus on the quality of students learning and how will the groups function, cooperative learning therefore, rely its affectivity on how teachers facilitate the group to perform well and help others for the purpose.
By: Ms. Sharon T. Guanzon | Master Teacher I, Tomas Pinpin Memorial Elementary School
