Is everybody doing okay? Probably a silly question, but an important one all the same. Our students are away from school, friends, teachers, and routine life as they know it. Let’s try to bring the connections into their learning by utilising cooperative learning. Cooperative learning models encourage students of all performance levels to work together in small groups toward group goals as seen in Susie’s video with her two ‘Little guys’. Rather than competing for grades or rewards as individuals they help one another to learn and achieve.

There are 5 basic elements involved in successful cooperative learning groups.

1 Positive interdependence between group members – they understand that their success depends on the group success.

2 Face to face interaction as students learn from each other. Find an internet meeting platform that works for you and your class.

3 Individual accountability – members are clear in their role and appreciate they all need to know the material and contribute.

4 Use of collaborative skills – students communicate, share and co-operate effectively.

5 Group processing – students are helped to evaluate how effectively their group worked.

A simple example- divide your class into groups and then pair groups up with another group. Each half must complete a set task before they can ‘send’ it back to the other half of the class. Be creative but have an end goal or learning outcome that needs to be reached by all.