Comments about Cooperative Learning Projects-SEVİNÇ ÇİSEM YÜKSEL

Hello! I’m Çisem. I want to say that each group worked hard and did a great job. Congratulations to all of us! Here you have my comments about all groups. 

Musical Chairs

I think as a first group to present their work, Musical Chairs did a great job. Because there were no clear ideas in our minds about how to present or how to do the activity. But they were very good. They spoke fluently and explained the theory with their own words and this is very important because cooperative learning is about working with all different types of learners and this means that even if the theory is the same for all of us, our interpretations are all different from each others.

The activity was the best activity ever done. It was both informative and entertaining. And also  they arranged new groups different from our base teams. So we had a chance to work with another people.

In general, I really liked that group. The presentation was good, the activity was fantastic and the relationship between group members was also really good. Congratulations Musical Chairs, you did your best!!

Team Perk

I think the best thing about their presentation was that they divided the general rules into 2 categories: the classroom rules and the group rules. That was a new information and it was really good because even if we obey the general classroom rules, we also have some responsibilities within our own groups. Team Perk did this discrimination very clear and I liked that . They used some pictures for teaching how to organize our classroom equipments in order to get the best performance from cooperative learning. I think visual materials are always better than the written ones. So it was very good using that kind of materials rather than just talking about that or showing the written criteria for this.

The activity was about finding some rules both for the classroom and the groups. We did it with a tennis ball. The last person holding the ball from all groups, wrote down 2-3 rules on the board and then we discussed them together. It was good to learn new rules and discuss the function of any rules. But I didn’t find the activity cooperative, it was more like an individual game.  

In general, they were good. Congratulations Team Perk, you did your best!!

Cronicas Viajeras 

Their presentation was good. They presented it in an entertaining way. They supported their ideas with so many different examples and this strengthened the meaning of both the techniques and the cooperative learning.

The activity was good. It was related to their group name. We were supposed to bring something from our travels. I didn’t know that we had to bring something so I didn’t participate this activity but it was really interesting to hear the others’ memories related to these things and it helped us to know each other better because with the help of this activity, we learned who went to where or who gives value to what.

In general, they were good. Congratulations Cronicas Viajeras, you did your best!!

The Unknowns

First of all, I should say that their group name is fantastic. I really like that name. Because it shows that whether we have something in common or not, we can be a group and study together. And the gist of the cooperative learning is that.

And about their presentation, they were really good. The format of it was very interesting and creative. They took some quotes from some celebrities. This was an excellent idea. I really love quote while I’m speaking or writing. They mentioned about 10 rules to produce a good work. That was a new information. The best part of it was the ‘acception the majority’s decision’ rule. It is very important when you are in an heterogeneous group in order to get rid of conflicts. And also they informed us about the rules of preparing team plans. This was also the new information and it was very important so it was good to see them in the presentation to make them clear.

The activity was good. We made a big circle including all the students in the class. We said something about ourselves and threw the ball to another person. It was very good to know the others better.

In general they were very good. Congratulations The Unknowns, you did your best!!

Dumbledore’s Teachers Army

The style of the presentation was very good and related to their group name. And also I really like their group name also because I’m a huge fan of Harry Potter. They gave us many new information. So the presentation was very informative for me. They talked about some rules of cooperative learning process like ‘there should be a face-to-face interaction, individual accountability and we should promoting positive interdependence’. They were the main rules of cooperative learning and it was really good to see them. And also they teached a new technique called ‘problem sets’. It was like a support team to motivate the students.

The activity was good. It was a pair-work. We worked with another person apart from our base teams members. So it was good to meet somebody else and know her/him better.

In general they were very good. Congratulations Dumbledore’s Teachers Army. You did your best!!

Modern Students

Their presentation was very good in terms of new theoretical information. The best thing was that there were different skills which we should have in order to cope with the cooperative learning in a good way. They were: trust-building, leadership, decision making, communication and conflict management. They gave some tips for the teachers to reduce the possible problems. It is also very helpful for us if we want to use cooperative learning in our classrooms. They were well organized and the objectives&language were very clear.

The activity was entertaining and very appropriate for children. I think there wasn’t a clear objective of that activity but we had to cooperate with our colleagues to complete the activity. So it was good in terms of our focus. That was a sticker game.

In general they were very good. Congratulations Modern Students. You did your best!!

Wonderlust

There aren’t so many things to say about their presentation. They were perfect, the best among us. They worked hard and made a fantastic work. They supported the theory with videos, drawings and speeches. They talked about the techniques by using their own videos. They were funny and informative at the same time. They showed the progress of students who work with cooperative learning very well. That was very good and a new thing told in presentations. And also they gave us another new information about how to organize the tables.

The activity was good. They wanted us to write a kind of summary about what we’ve learnt so far both indivually and in the groups. That was a good idea because they are the last one of that project.

In general, they were fantastic and amazing. I really liked the way they present the work and the energy of them. Congratulations Modern Students. You’re the best!!