Establishing Routines and Strategies for Collaboration and Conversation

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These shoes work well together. You can see the difference in each pair while recognizing that they seem to complement each other. To me, THIS is collaboration - unique, diverse students who complement each other with thinking... and students who are able to work well together.

As part of best practice, teachers develop routines and structures within the classroom, including those that support effective collaboration. When these routines and structures are established, students are given daily opportunities to interact verbally, share ideas, collaborate, and think "out loud". It's critical that students have opportunities to talk with peers about their learning. Why? Consider research connected to: 

• students as social learners,
• the need for students to engage in "oral rehearsal", and 
• the need for students to formulate thinking. 

These conversational experiences lead to deeper understanding and greater clarity in student thinking and understanding. In the end, students might also find themselves transferring ideas from conversations into writing (experiences we connect with writing-to-learn). To support students in their development as collaborators, we might provide opportunities for them to evaluate themselves (self-evaluation) and consider possibilities for change.

Establishing routines for students to talk about their learning supports the 21st Century Skills of Collaboration and Critical Thinking and Reasoning. As you establish these routines, expectations, and strategies, consider these additional tools:

• Video - Think Time and Collaboration (2:19) from the Teaching Channel
• Strategy - Using Partner Talk to Strengthen Student Collaboration and Understanding from ReadWriteThink
• Video (Strategy) - Organizing Desks into "Four Corners" (1:18) from the Teaching Channel
• Video (Strategy) - The Four Tribes: Agreements for Learning Together (2:31) from the Teaching Channel
• Blog Post with Strategies - How to Foster Collaboration and Team Spirit from MindShift
• Blog Post with Strategies - Nurturing Collaboration: 5 Strategies from Edutopia
• Best Practices - 20 Collaborative Learning Tips and Strategies from Global Digital Citizen
• Strategy for Using Academic Language with ALL Learners - Discussion Chips (example is in math)