We all have groups for different things in our classrooms. Reading groups, math groups and even sport groups. You’ll be amazed at what happened the day I put students into TEAMS instead of GROUPS!.
In my class we often need to complete combined projects. We just don’t have enough supplies to do most of the work individually. I noticed that students were getting dragged down when they found out there were in a certain group and they didn’t want to be. So I thought there had to be a better way. And there was!
TEAMS instead of GROUPS
Having teams was so much more empowering than having groups in my classroom. One week I decided that we will no longer have groups, no longer be labelled group 1, group 2 and so on, OK, please keep in mind that I teach over 300 students, so to have super awesome creative group names was just way too confusing for me, hence the ol’ boring names. As the students came into class I told them, for this project you will have TEAMS! And from that point on I changed the way I spoke about each element the group had to work on and changed it to a team focused word.
Instead of: “As a group you need to create a robot”.
I used: “You need to work as a team to build your robot.”
Instead of: “Someone from your group needs to collect materials”.
I used: “Within your team choose a representative to collect materials”.
Straight away I noticed students were internally cheering for their team to be successful. They were actively contributing to their teams success. They had an interest, as a team member, to make sure their team has a solution to the project.
GO TEAM
The reason I now use team rather than group is that the team has a much more empowering effect on students. When you are putting students into a group it gives the impression that you have been placed there, put there, and then this is what you HAVE to do. However, once you’ve been told that you are in a team all of a sudden you become a team player, you have to contribute. You have to pull your own weight. You have to work together to Changing the way you say things really empowers the students to take an active role in their team and to be more proactive than if they were just in a group. GO TEAM! Read more about the benefits of teamwork in schools here.
Here are some team building STEM activities that will help to build unity within your class.
If you are looking for ways for your teams to succeed when completing projects or challenges, have a look at our blog post about how to set up STEM activities.