Collaboration Continues to Grow at Green Run High School

Lawyers, surgeons, sport teams, and many other occupations use collaboration amongst to do their job, but until recently students worked by themselves to complete their work.

‘’Collaboration simulates real life and helps students stay engaged with different viewpoints’’ said Mr.Cosimano

When asked Nicole Tan a 12th grader explained that collaboration is not incorporated into her classes and that only on occasion does she feel encouraged to work with others within her vicinity. According to Nicole collaboration depends on her mood.

However, David Whyte, a junior, views collaboration differently and looks forward to it. ‘’Yes because there are so many of us and they’re trying to figure out better ways to help us,” he said referring to teachers’ use of collaboration in the classroom.

“A lot of kids learn better that way,’’ he added.

“Collaboration between students is important because it can help build critical thinking skills, which would allow teachers to step back and let students take control of their work and education,” said Kelly Logue-Echols. She elaborated that she is a big proponent of collaboration assignments, but thinks that it’s necessary to have both separate and collaborative work.

Ms.Echols believes that students should work together on everything, and goes into further detail by describing what she does in her class. The students in her class are preparing for an English SOL by completing a practice test with a partner. After that the students compare answers and go over them as a class.

“So I try different things when it comes to having students work with each other,” said Ms.Echols. She lets students in her class to decide who they want to work with, stating that if you are going to be graded as a group, then you should be apart of that grade. Though while she usually lets students choose who they work with, the class sometimes gets into groups based on their needs and what level they are at.

When it comes to students doing separate work she thinks that it depends on the assignment. Ms.Echols said, “I think it’s important to evaluate how well each student does in their group, and if they are unable to do the task then they can work with a teacher and then on their own.”

Based on her personal experience Ms.Echols said that there are numerous opportunities for students to work with each other for improvements on the subject they struggle with.