Explore: SIM Theory

 It is always great seeing children work together. They are trusting, open minded, and understanding. They will talk to each other about different things that they might not say to their teachers. 

After reading chapter 6, I have come very fond of a democratic classrooms. I like seeing when children are able to work together on an even play field. When you use the students differences in groups, it makes the groups stronger along with the whole class. Once the students are in their groups, they are given responsibilities and they decided together the rules. This process makes the students feel safe and comfortable with the work they are doing. 

On the same note, chapter 7 discusses collaboration in the classroom which also allows the students to work together. When they are constantly working together, they are able to build a community in their own classroom. This will allow all the students to get involved and feel more comfortable doing so. Since each student has their own strengths, they will be able to help each other through the work they will be completing. 

Explore: SIM Methods

These videos allow us to explore how we can implement the Social Interactive Model and Collaborative Teaching in the classroom. There are different options and ways to teach these strategies throughout these videos. Strategies such as think-pair-share, stand up, head up, pair up and inside, outside, circle. I was no familiar with these strategies before watching these videos and I plan on using them in the future. 

I have attached the videos below so more people can learn what I have. 

An example from the classroom

Think-Pair-Share

Numbered heads together

Stand up, Head up, Pair up

Inside, Outside Circle

Engage: P.I.G.S.

What does P.I.G.S. mean exactly?

Positive Interdependence: This is when people in a group link together with common goals. In order to succeed, they must all work together. They share ideas, answers and encourage each other to do their best. They always keep their heads together and collaborate 

Individual Accountability: The belief that everyone will be accountable for their performance and learning. This occurs when the performance of each individual is assessed and the results are given back. 

Group Processing: IN cooperative learning, group processing has different purposed. All the group will work together to improve overtime. They focus on the members and make sure they are contributing that that their individual accountability is increasing. They also use streamlining to make things simpler. 

Social Skills: In order to have good social skills, people should be able to have good face to face interaction. There is facilitate group work and they can communicate with each other. 

Implementing Social Interactive Models/Cooperative Learning is important because they are student centered. They encourage students to engage more in the work they are doing with a higher level of thinking. Students who work well with each other will benefit in a learning environment like this and their skills will increase.