Have you ever attended a workshop and had an 'aha' moment? Ding ding ding!! Today, that was my kind of day! It's my third and final year with the Academy of Science. I had a blast! One of the most important things you can do for your students is give them a respectful task.
What is a respectful task? When you give your students a respectful task you are differentiating your instruction and you are making sure every student has the ability to be their best. One group may be working on a task that is completely different from another group but has the same objective. You are making sure every student is engaged and you are honoring the different levels in your classroom.
I group my students by names that help them feel good about themselves. Why not name your groups Wonderful, Super, or Amazing? Wouldn't you want to be in a group that is named Wonderful? I always tell my class they are going on a special mission to complete the task. While they are working, I may call out and say, "You have five more minutes to complete your mission." They love having a mission and pretending to be special agents. It's the cutest thing ever!!
Each student is given a color strip with their group name on it.
Then, each group is given a task card. The task cards are the same colors I use for my groups. This helps me to know which task each group needs to work on.
Here are some students completing their respectful task.
How do you give your students respectful tasks?
