It would be nice if the only rule in the classroom had to be something like, “Respect each other,” or alternatively, “Be excellent to each other,” but sometimes you have to go into the details to figure out what exactly that means.
During the last interim I had my middle school class come up with a list of rules about how to act while doing group work. There’s often someone who wants to slack off, and there are other times when people want to work but the other members of the group think they could do the work better without them. So we came up with these rules that try to balance the responsibility of the individual to actively participate, and the rest of the group to let them participate.
The List:
- Actively work to find work,
- Actively allow people to work,
- Should be willing to work productively,
- Include yourself in the group,
- Work with others while respecting personal space,
- Work without distracting the group,
- Be focused on the specific project,
- Invite other people to work.
Together with the house cup, the middle school groups are working well together for the moment.