Collaboration

I was really enjoying this weeks topic because I really want to do more collaboration projects with my class.  Ellen Lupton is a museum curator that wrote an article title Why Collaborate?  She wrote
 "It can be frustrating, however, when a few people are doing the heavy lifting and the others are there only to “insure consensus” or “weigh in” on concepts."
I really understand that frustration.  My two sons are in high school and are often given group projects to work on.  As a parent, it is frustrating to watch my son do the majority of the work because some kids are too busy and can't meet to work together. Or my favorite excuse is that no one in his group knows how to edit a video (so they say). Then he's left with writing, filming and editing a joint film along with trying to find a time they all can meet. I see him doing most of the work while others just float by doing very little.   

Luton wrote,  " Collaboration is becoming more important across many fields of creative work"

I believe that the goal of collaboration is  not only reaching children academically, but also to help them with gaining the needed skills for future jobs.

Ellie Ashford  wrote "Educators are increasingly seeing the value of having students collaborate in small groups on classroom projects—and whether such projects involve producing a written or multimedia presentation, solving a math problem, or creating a video, technology can facilitate the group process" 
With my second grade students I am try to find good ways to have students collaborate.  They love working together.  I think one of my favorite times was when my students had made stick puppets at Christmas time and they broke up into groups writing and making a little skit that they filmed and put into a short movie.  They would take their "scrips" outside to work on and practice with during recess instead of playing. 
 In Mind Mapping in Education  they wrote about the benefit of graphic organizers as:
 

• Improve reading comprehension
• Benefit students achievement levels
• Enhance thinking and learning skills
• Increase retention
• Support cognitive learning theory

 This year I am going to do more collaboration and graphic organizers with my class. I think my second graders will really enjoy it and gain a lot from each other.