Small group guidelines from 2009 class


Guidelines on Co-operative Work In Small Groups
Team: Marie, Ashley, Diana & Jeremy
The guidelines that our group put together are below:
  1. Listen when people talk.
  2. Everyone should give input.
  3. Dont ignore opinions, theres no wrong answer.
  4. Make sure everyone is facing each other & in close proximity.
  5. Its ok for people to disagree.
  6. Stay focused and on task.
  7. Make sure each person gets allowed time to be involved.
  8. Make sure each member understands whats going on.
After we formed these guidlines, we then formulated an acronym that encompases each of these ideas into one complete picture.
Good sense of humor
Understand each other
Involved
Disagree = cool
Everyone facing each other
Love & care for each others opinions = warm & fuzzy
Input
listeNing
Explore ideas
Solving problems
Guidelines for Effect Adult Group Work
Jackie, Yolanda, Kristin, Alyssa

Role Delegation--creating interdependency among groups members and for the purpose of task completion and constructive communication.

Introducing a Prop for Speaking--props for speaking, such as the use of a talking stick, reduces the number of interjections, keeps members mindful of the length of time they are speaking and the content of their speech.

Instruction Reiteration--designating a person to read the instructions aloud helps to sequence the order of tasks, and gives members that do not fully comprehend the directions through their own reading, to ask questions as they are being read, or immediately after. Reiterating directions (verbally) helps to refocus the attention of the group, especially in cases where conversation and action have deviated from the assignment.

Eye Contact--by maintaining eye-contact with the person that is speaking you are communicating non-verbally that he/she has your attention. The person who is speaking should make an effort to create that contact with members of the group (depending on size) to inform listeners that what is being said is important, and their attention matters to the speaker.

Establishing Respect--One way respect can be established effectively is to aknowledge and encourage the expression of all ideas from all group members. This is critical when ideas are good but cannot be used, or are not effective in task completion, but have sensibility elsewhere. By aknowledging a person's suggestions or comments, regardless of their relevance, you support that person and give them the confidence to contribute in future exchanges, even if that contribution needs guidance to ensure it's applicability to the group project or assignment.

Summary of Our Group Experience
For our group, it was as important to be inclusive of all members' ideas and suggestions as it was to be conscientious of our time and the task at hand. We practiced using a talking stick which helped to regulate our conversation and made us self-aware as participants of group. We did not engage in any ice-breaker activities, which could have helped to get us better acquainted before we approached the assigment. Politeness can suffocate the emergence of creative ideas, and we aknowledged this truth but were able to overcome that obstacle by implementing the use of the prop. To have role responsibilities expressed early in the directions added much needed clarification about each person's purpose in this setting. We formed our own ideas but were able to build off others, under considerate conditions, meaning we minimized interjections by relying on the talking "cup." (Not having a fancy stick at our disposal). We developed guidelines that we actually used, and because of this we were productive and successful working in a small group.

Guidelines on Co-operative Work In Small Groups

1) Create a cooperative culture by providing tools and models
2) Be clear about purpose and the task at hand
3) Assign groups - ensure community building in groups
- e.g. icebreakers/ introductions (if these are linked with the group work even better)
3) Create space to share strengths and let adults use them
4) Create defined roles
5) let the groups come up with shared agreements/ make sure groups agree how to build consensus
6) Intentionally divide the work equally
7) Ensure that everyone participates
9) Enable participants can contribute in various ways - structure w/ flexibility
10) Create activities so community building is part of the group work
11) Ensure work is authentic and cannot be done alone
12) Include self-assessment of group work (assessment should be incorporated into the task)