Comments about the Cooperative Learning: Patricia Zarza

The first group that presented the cooperative learning was Musical Chairs.

The first idea that I want to talk about their presentation is that they say that the cooperative learning is based on the respect, and I totally agree with them. The respect is one of the most important thing that you have to have when you are in a cooperative group; you have to respect the others opinion, the decisions of the group even though is not what you want to do, and the most important thing, you have to respect your own work and the work of your partners.

Other idea that they say is that working the cooperative learning in class is important because they have fun while they are learning new things. This idea is very important because most of the time the kids, with the traditional way of leaning, they get bored of doing the same thing every day, every week, every month… and with this way of learning, they will have to do different things in every task so they are continually working on new way of learning.

The next group was Amigos del Football.

Their presentation, at least the part that I liked the most was when they talked about the advantages and the difficulties of the Cooperative Learning. I think that the Cooperative Learning has a lot of advantages, but it also has one or two difficulties too.

Other thing that they talked about in the presentation was the importance of giving the pupils positive feedback when they do the things good, but you have to recompense all of the groups so you don´t make feel the kids that they work is not value.

And the last thing was the activity, and it was like a Diana where you have to write you name, and the things that you have in common with you group, so with this you get to know better the members of your group.

Then, the group that presented was Team Peark.

For this group, the thing that I liked the most was the sheet evaluation paper that they will use with their students. I found it very useful and interesting, because is something that any of the other group did and we can use it in a way where the kids also understand it.

Another thing that they talked about was the team and the class rules. They were spoken about how much important is for the group that everyone follow the rules properly so we can respect and listen to each other without any problem. And with this topic, they develop their activity.

Then their activity was with a ball. We get up and make a circle between our group and we were passing the ball while we were saying rules for the group and for the class also. I think this is a good way to get to know the rules that we have to follow in the way that we can work properly in the group and without any problems.

The next group was Crónicas Viajeras.

I really liked this group because they explain the topic as it was a tour trip and they were saying the examples as if we were in a plain or about the things that we have to put in or baggage as if was like the rules and the material that we have to carry to develop every task.

Their activity was about a memory that we have about any trip. We have to take into the class some gift, present or something that we have bought in a trip, and explain it to our partners of our group. Then, a member of every group have to stand up and explain some of the thing that their partners have said to him/her.

Then it was Unknowns group. 

This group explain us the importance of the roles in every group. They said that it was very important that the roles were rotary so each pupils, at least once, have taken every role and has experience how it is.

The also talked about the importance of the role of the teacher and how to act when they ask you for help. It is very important that you guide them into the answer but never giving then it without making then think about it first. The teacher here has to be a guide that helps you to develop you own knowledge.

Their activity was with a ball; all the class stand up making a big circle, and when someone pass you the ball, you have to say something that you like or you don´t like, or something that you are good or bad at it. This activity is good to make it the first days of class when not all the pupils know everyone, so with this they get to know all the people in the class better.

The next group was Dumbledore Teacher´s Army.

The thing that really loved about this group was the background of their presentation, it was the Daily Profect, the newspaper of the Harry Potter films, and I am really fan of Harry Potter so I liked it very much. But this thing has a disadvantage, and it is that I catch my attention so much that I could barely concentrate in what they were talking about because there were a lot of things to watch in the Power Point.

Other thing that I like it, and it is one of the things that I can say about their presentation is that they introduce new concepts that the other groups didn´t even talk about, so that is a good point for them.

And the last group was Wanderlust.

This group presented the ideas by a video, where they were drawing or acting the things that there were presenting in class, so it is a good idea to make the people that is listening to you to get interested in the topic.

Other thing that I liked about them is their activity. All of us were divided into 3 group, and first we had to think by ourselves what we have learn about the cooperative learning, but then, in the group, we shared ideas so we can really know all that we have been learning. This activity can be made with the children every time that they finish a topic, so they can remember everything that they have been doing. 

Patricia Zarza Iglesias