TREK2024 (transform, renew, empower, kickstart)

Are group projects getting you down? Do you pair students in small teams only to hear crickets? Does it seem like only one student is doing all the work in project groups? Then join this session to learn how you can set students up for successful collaboration and beat the group work blues!
We’ll kick off this session with a discussion of some of the most common challenges we face with group projects in the classroom: lack of student communication skills, bossy student leaders, and disengaged group members. Participants will then experience collaborative learning strategies that help overcome these challenges in a new way and experiment with tools like a Team Charter template from LucidSpark for starting teamwork off on the right foot and quick and effective check-in strategies in Padlet or ensuring all team members are on the same page. These strategies transcend one-and-done group projects to develop transferable skills for the world beyond our classrooms. Educators who attend this session will walk away with templates to use in their class tomorrow along with actionable tips for beating the group work blues and setting the tone for the school year.