Collaboration Strategies In Elementary Education

Teaching styles vary by age group and subject, but for elementary education, the best strategy options have been condensed into a select few. For example, when working with a younger age group, their attention spans are much shorter than that of an adult, therefore, teachers must adjust lesson plans to accommodate such things. For this reason, the best option is to teach with a variety of techniques and styles that take into account the need of students to be active and engaged (Ollington). For many young students, hearing, seeing, and moving during a lesson is the only way for them to completely comprehend a new idea (Tileston 20). Ordinarily, some options will work best with different groups than others, therefore successful teachers find

Shy students may struggle to work well together, but if one more outgoing student was placed with them, they may be able to get other members of the group to open up. Young students are able to learn best when interacting with others, whether it be peers or adults (Mooney 5). Vygotsky, a soviet psychologist, believed that a child on the edge of learning a new concept could greatly benefit from human interaction (Mooney 82). Collaboration incorporates the idea that children learn not only by doing, but also by talking about what they have learned in the classroom (Mooney 24). Collaboration is one of the best ways for students of a young age to put new concepts into practice while also working with others. This type of teaching also allows for reflection or metacognition. Metacognition is the necessary process of thinking about thinking (Tileston

This teaching method can be helpful before an exam, but is difficult for visual and kinesthetic learners (“Most Common Teaching”). While lecturing, difficult information should be broken up into easily understood chucks. This allows students to feel more comfortable with the information rather than overwhelmed (Biehler 676) For auditory learners, hearing, and talking about new information is the best way to process it (Tileston 16). Although, auditory learners make up a small number of students in most classrooms (Tileston 17). By adding visual aids to lectures, teachers can cater to more than one type of student at a time (Tileston 11). Providing students with nonlinguistic organizer, such as mind maps, helps students to organize and memorize information (Tileston 58). Lectures, with added visual aids, allow teachers a method to convey a large amount of information while also appealing to different types of learners at once. Lecturing is an example of explicit instruction which is based on teacher-directed strategy. This can include lecturing, questioning, practicing, and even a demonstration (Tileston 67).

The hands-on method is generally accepted as the best for elementary age students. It allows children to experiment with the ideas presented to them (“Most Common Teaching”). Montessori, an Italian physician and educator, said “Every lesson should contain movement”. When movement is associated with a specific idea,