Collaboration in a Modern Classroom

How do we facilitate collaboration in a self-paced learning environment?

The Modern Classroom instructional model allows for teachers to adapt blended, self-paced, and mastery-based learning to best meet their students’ needs within the discipline they teach. No two Modern Classrooms look alike, and teachers have creatively incorporated collaboration strategies to build classroom culture, social-emotional skills, and enhanced student learning outcomes.

We’ve outlined some of our favorite collaboration strategies to share with our community. 

Student-driven collaboration

One of the most loved aspects of teaching with the Modern Classroom model is the fact that students can collaborate authentically with one another, without continuous teacher direction. Students frequently use progress trackers to find peers with whom they can work. Students can collaborate with classmates who are tackling the same lesson, seek help from classmates who are farther ahead, or help classmates who are farther behind to catch up.

In addition to this organic collaboration, teachers use other strategies to encourage students to work together through:

• Flex grouping using a daily seating arrangement

• Teacher’s Assistant role for students

• Jigsaw activities where students do different elements of class practice, sharing with and learning from one another about various aspects of a lesson’s topic

We recommend teachers solicit student input when creating groups for unit-long projects or more permanent seating arrangements, as collaboration will be more successful if students feel comfortable with their peers. We also advise explicitly teaching, in an age-appropriate manner what collaboration looks like in an academic setting.

Using Classroom Space to Foster Ongoing Collaboration

Teachers creatively use classroom space to create opportunities for students to share their thinking and build off of one another’s learning. These include

• Chalk talks where student revisit unit compelling and supporting questions after each lesson they complete

• Genius bar where lesson experts are seated to offer assistance on key concepts

• Ahead-of-pace lounge where accelerated students can work together in an special space of the classroom

Employing Daily Routines

Many Modern Classroom teachers build in opportunities for student discussion as a part of each class. To ensure conversations are relevant to all students in a self-paced learning environment, these discussions can: 

1. Address an ongoing unit compelling question or course theme

2. Connect the current unit of study to real-world implications or current events

3. Provide an opportunity to practice ongoing skills necessary for the course

4. Review content for most of the class (i.e.: reviewing the topic of a particular lesson a few days after that lesson’s target date)

5. Foster metacognitive and wellness reflections 

6. Address common misunderstandings and consistent areas of revision

Examples of daily discussion routines

• Daily opening conversations: Immediately after the Do Now or warm-up, students participate in a source-based discussion at their table. Teachers can put sources and question prompts in bags on the bulletin board or in a bin at each table for students to access.

• Daily closing exercises: In the final minutes of class each day, encourage students to pack up computers and prepare for a closing discussion. These can have a common routine (such as “Connect-Extend-Challenge” to reflect on what they worked on that day) or have a directed prompt or activity.

• Discussion tables: Teachers hold daily conversations with a flex group of students. A small group of students see, upon entering the classroom, their name is highlighted or starred, indicating they have “discussion table” that day; they know that they will be called to come to the central location to explore a topic more in depth.

These daily routines do not have to be limited to turn-and-talk style conversations. Teachers have used a number of their favorite activities (Four Corners, Take-a-Stand, etc.) as the structure of daily opening or closing discussions.

Planning whole class activities

Whole-class activities in each unit can be powerful learning opportunities and motivators for students to be on pace. Examples of activities our teachers have used are:

• Case studies

• Lab

• Seminars

• Simulations

• Debates

• Writer’s Workshop or peer editing days

Students who remain off-pace, despite differentiation (“must do”, “should do” and “aspire to do” lessons or tasks) and teacher interventions*, by the date of whole-class activities can either have the option to attend a makeup session, complete an alternate assignment, or participate with scaffolds. 

*These interventions can include parent contact, student-facing progress trackers, individual support plans, contact with case managers or coaches, daily goal setting, etc.