This video follows nicely after the last post. Having students collaborate in meaningful ways is a special interest of mine. Because this is a freebie year, I wanted to use group work and collaboration, as I've mentioned, and I wanted to talk as little as possible. At first, it's frightening to give up the teaching duties to the students and become a facilitator. At first. After a bit of time, I came to quite like it. During class, my job is a cakewalk, involving observation and answering questions with "That's a great question! Ask your table." Please know, though, that the planning and prep for this type of classroom is a ridiculously time-consuming game of chess, moving pieces into place and anticipating every move from every player in the game. Ack!
This is a great lesson. It's an Algebra class, but that's completely irrelevant. It's really a jigsaw lesson that would work in countless classrooms. And, don't miss this--it's eighth graders, working, discussing, and learning. Good stuff.
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