My son loves the dudes. I've mentioned the love-hate relationship I have with the bottle flipping epidemic before. I have Dude Perfect to thank for that. But it's not just the flipping. It's the trick shots, and the videos, and the making anything into a competition. It's the cap flips and the 30 foot 3 pointers. It's making me loony. But I can't help myself. I gotta keep taking those shots.
Dude perfect represents something to me, though: teamwork.
If it was just Tyler Toney, taking the shots, it wouldn't have caught on. It's the synergy. It's the team. It's buddies working together to work against each other to make something happen. I love the Dude Perfect team. They are real with their strengths and weaknesses. They capitalize on both. And they make something special together: something motivating, something engaging, something inspiring.
Something to get me to make a 2-story no-look cap flip.
Think about the last time you worked on something as a team. Did it go well? Were you happy with the product, the process, the experience? Did you feel as though you had come to an understanding with your teammates? Or did you decide to never work with them again?
Working in groups happens day in and day out in school. From long term group projects to 30 second think-pair-shares, students are often working in groups. But how often do we as educators give students tools to help them do groupwork effectively? We can't simply throw students together and hope for the best.
Teamwork is a skill. After a semester of developing teamwork skills, the teamwork I see at the end of the semester is different than the teamwork I see at the beginning. Students seem happier with the team. They seem more effective. They seem to come up with better responses.
Strategize a Collaboration Plan
No one goes into a partnership without first discussing the terms. How can we ask our students to do just that? A collaboration plan is crucial as students embark on Connections-based Learning. In the CBL Design process, students reflect on the collaboration at the beginning of the process. This was crucial as we responded to the dire conditions in the bateyes we heard from Eladio, Dennis and the students from The Community For Learning school in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The students had empathized the needs, co-constructed learning goals with me, and developed a proposal to address light poverty. The next step was to establish how the team would function.
Answering questions such as what strengths do we bring to the group, what non-negotiables do we have, and how do we see the work load divided must take place to guide the collaboration. Using our OneNote Class Notebook collaboration space, students ironed out some group parameters by answering some guiding questions.
They then signed the plan, demonstrating that they were committed to these ideas. Opportunities for guided collaboration must continue throughout the CBL. Having digital and actual time and space for collaboration is crucial for developing teamwork. Whether it's brainstorming questions for Skype chats:
or gathering a list of materials to create 3D printed lanterns
or gathering a list of materials to create 3D printed lanterns
collaboration is entered into by the students, but monitored and guided by the teacher. Finally, it should be reflected upon by each student, as they bookend their learning.
When teamwork skills are built, there is no telling what students can do. I am amazed at what these students created to address light poverty in the Dominican Republic as they worked together. And I love the sentiment above:
"we can accomplish anything if we put our minds to it"
See previous CBL Design Posts:
Thanks for walking with us as we attempt to tackle light poverty. Support us in further attempts by visiting our My Class Needs page.
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