Cohort groops
My experance with this groop has been both good and bad, the ability to bolster and pass along lesson understanding in a mannor thats far below my age groop has been exciteing to say the least, However I have occasionaly seen the down side as well. Those who are what I call the bad boy leaders, those who try and push the limits as far as possiable. I find this last groop to be very frustrating in the least. I follow my companys regulations and often have found myself having to defend my position. All very frustrating!
Hi Marife,
Thank you for sharing this success story with us. The more of this type of sharing the more tools we have in our tool boxes for handling class management problems. Sounds like you also build some rapport with these "bad boys" while earning their respect. Great job.
Gary
Four months ago, I experienced this "bad boy leader" complex in one of my classes. On the first day of class, they were already testing my boundaries. Although I was teaching a class of adults, it felt as though they were teenagers. It was very distracting to me. It turned out that these difficult students were the ones that understood the subject well with a "class clown" type of personalities.
My strategy was to break them up in groups and incorporate a few class activities assigning these "bad boy leaders" as my team leaders of each group. At the end of the class, I was pleased that my strategy was effective and I was able to quickly assess the group dynamics.
I just wanted to say that I did find this tactic in class room mgmt very effective and that I definately will use this again.
Hi Robert,
I commend you for the way you are using student groups. Student groups are a very important teaching tool that is often neglected by instructors. By being aware of the effectiveness of groups and how they are functioning you can as you say reformat them as needed in order for them to continue functioning as a solid learning group. Thanks for sharing your method with the participants.
Gary
These are interesting groups to deal with. The "bad boy leaders" can be a challenge. They are also the ones that if you direct discipline towards the others will follow.
I like the groups though because they are willing to help one another in lab. Though sometimes I find there will be a group that may be weak in certain skills and I will have to adjust groups to help that group. I like to find students that are natural leaders, get the subject, and are easy to work with. These same students ar usually the ones that are finished well in front of everyone else. I ask them to go work with my other groups to help me. They usually like doing that as well. I ask them to guide the students in the original group and not just do everything. I find the students pick up the information well from a fellow student because they are equals and they aren't as nervous as when the teacher is there.
Cohort Groups are very common in my experience. I actually enjoy observing the structure of the various groups. I believe that a positve atmosphere of learning can be perpetuated by capitalizing on the camaraderie that exists in these groups.
Human nature draws most of us together into groups or societies. The structure of each group is generally of a mostly fixed hierarchy. I have found that if I recognize the structure of the group and incorporate my teaching strategy to compliment the structure of the group that most often the members of the group(s) become assets to the task at hand. Play to your audience and make them part of the show.
Hi Michael,
I can appreciate your frustration with these types of students. By being a strong leader and keeping the class focused you can push through the actions of these "bad boy" students. Another approach is to break the class down into groups and make sure that the identified troublesome students are scattered through out the groups. This will help to spread out any negative influence they might have on other students. In addition, the positive students can help to influence the environment of the class.
Gary
I definitely agree; especially if there are classes who speak to each other and mix-up the gossip and myths that spread around about the instructors. It's very challenging overcoming misnomers that exist and perhaps are based upon false descriptions proivided by others.
