Cooperative Learning

                                

Cooperative learning is a successful teaching strategy in which small teams, each with students of different levels of ability, use a variety of learning activities to improve their understanding of a subject. 

The purpose of cooperative learning groups is to make each member a stronger individual in his or her right. Students learn together so that they can subsequently perform higher as individuals. ... The fourth essential element of cooperative learning is teaching students the required interpersonal and small group skills.

The five basic elements of collaborative learning are:

                             

Cooperative Learning helps to: Raise achievement of students. Build positive relationships among students - important for creating a learning community that values diversity. Provide experiences that develop both good learning skills and social skills.

                              

Cooperative learning is an effective way for students to learn and process information quickly with the help of others. The goal of using this strategy is for students to work together to achieve a common goal. It is essential that each student understands their cooperative learning group role.

Teacher's Beliefs

There are different types of beliefs that the teacher should have and learn:


Beliefs About Intelligence and Children's Capacity to Learn

         Belief 1: "You can get smarter". Children's learning is primarily determined by their effective effort and use of appropriate strategies. "Intelligence" is not fixed inborn limit on learning capacity. All children have the raw materials to do rigorous academic materials at high standards.   

Beliefs About Learning

Belief 2: Learning is constructed as learners assimilate new experience with prior knowledge.

Belief 3: Learning varies with the degree to which learners' needs for inclusion, influence, competence, and confidence are met. 

Beliefs About Teachers and Teaching

Belief 4: The nature of professional knowledge encompasses areas of performance, repertoire, and matching, " not effective behaviors." 

Belief 5: The knowledge bases of a professional teacher as many, diverse, and complex; and skillful teaching requires systematic and continual study of these knowledge bases.  

Beliefs About School and Schools

Belief 6: The total environment of a school has a powerful effect on students's learning. 

Belief 7: Racism exerts a downward force on the achievement of students of color that must be met with active anti racist teaching. 

Hookah Vs Cigarette

How many cigarettes equal an hour of hookah smoking?

Hookah smoke that you inhale can contain 36 times more tar than cigarette smoke, 15 times the carbon monoxide, and 70% more nicotine than one cigarette.
Hookah smokers may absorb more toxins and cancer-causing chemicals than cigarette smokers. An hour of hookah tobacco smoking is equal to smoking 40 to 400 cigarettes, depending on frequency of puffing, the depth of inhalation, and how long the hookah session lasts.

Are hookahs addictive like cigarettes?

Many people think that hookah smoking is safer than cigarette smoking. It's not. Both hookah and cigarettes contain nicotine from the tobacco, which is an addictive drug. Inhaling hookah smoke has the same addictive properties as inhaling cigarette smoke. Hookah is generally not used to get high.

What are the health risks of hookah and cigarette smoking?

People who smoke hookahs and cigarette smokers are at risk for some of the same diseases and health problems, including: lung, stomach, bladder and esophageal cancer. In addition to that heart disease, reduced lung function, decreased fertility, exposure to infections, and many many others. 

Professional Knowledge Types

There are six types of Knowledge that a skillful teacher should have: 

1. Knowledge of the academic discipline: it is related to the domain of learning of the teacher and how the teacher must keep updated with new releases in her domain. 
2. Content-specific pedagogical knowledge:   it is related to the methods of teaching and how to best teach the subject. The teacher should have different ways to teach it by using: methods, materials, examples, stories, analogies, etc....
3. General pedagogical knowledge and skills: this type of knowledge is related to the curriculum planing, motivation, instructional strategies and management. 
4. Knowledge of individual differences in learners: this is related to the cultural, developmental and  learning style, and how to include those differences in instructional decisions. 
5. Knowledge of behaviors of individuals in effective organization: this is related to effective teams, effective meetings, good communication and problem-solving skills within the school members. ( teachers between each other) 
6. Knowledge of how to communicate effectively with parents and community: this is related to the relation between teachers and parents. the teacher must always show win the parentts to her/his side in order to improve the students achievements. Also the teacher should show the parents that their kid is really important to her/him. 

Being a Skillful Teacher

To be a skillful teacher the teacher should follow several topics and work on them carefully. A skillful teacher must be motivated to learn, passionate, reflective, flexible, caring, etc....

In addition to that the teacher must always keep her standards high and her expectations high too. In this way the teacher tells the students three messages:

1. I belief in you
2. I wont give upon you
3. you can do it

Also to be a skillful teacher you should build up a positive teacher-student relationship, which in turn will affect the students achievements positively.  That positive relationship will allow the students to feel comfortable. 

What follows building that relationship, is building a positive climate. To build that positive climate the teacher should work on three areas: 

1. Community and Mutual Support
2. Risk Taking and Confidence
3. Influence

By following all what I have mentioned above, the students will always put more effort on their work to show their teacher that really they can do it. It is all about how to deal with any student fairly and in a positive way.

Active Listening

Listening has been shown to be essential to communicating respect for another person. To test this claim, reflect on your own feelings. Consider a time when you may have been talking with someone who interrupted you or continually focused on what they wanted to express in the conversation. Maybe it was clear that their mind was elsewhere and they weren’t at all “fully present” with you. When we want to build a strong relationship with another person, our ability and commitment to listening attentively and emphatically is essential. 

Mutual Respect Between Students and Teachers

The relationship between students and teachers should be one of mutual respect. Students should listen to the teacher and try their best in the class. Teachers, on the other hand need to do their best to give their students a quality education and respect them as individuals. There should be a set curriculum, but teachers need to be creative in how they teach what is required. Students need to have more respect for their teachers and take more responsibility for their education.

Positive teacher-student relationships promote a sense of school belonging and encourage students to participate cooperatively. Students develop confidence to experiment and succeed in an environment where they are not restricted by the fear of failure. Teachers are able to assist students with motivation and goal setting, and students can turn to them for advice and guidance. 

As a parent, it’s important to understand how to develop positive teacher-student relationships so you know what to look for at your child’s school.