I love to write about my favorite classroom management strategies. One of my absolute favorite strategies and classroom routines is Group Roles.
There are so many benefits to using Group Roles. They streamline labs and classroom activities. They give individual students responsibilities so that the workload in the group is shared. Group Roles increase participation, engagement, collaboration and communication. They help keep students focused and on task.
Group Roles are a classroom routine I introduce in the first few weeks of school. Then we use them all year long for labs, classroom activities, and group work.
Keep reading to learn more about why I love using Group Roles in my class, and some tips on how I make it work in my classroom. Also check out my blog post How to Teach Group Roles.
- Why I love using Group Roles
- What are the Group Roles?
- When to use Group Roles
- The Benefits of Group Roles
- Group Roles and problem-solving
- Overcoming challenges with Group Roles
Why I Love Using Group Roles
I’ve been using Group Roles since my first year teaching. It’s a best teaching practice, especially during labs in science. I noticed right away the benefits of using group roles in labs. Students slowed down, talked to each other, helped one another, caused less trouble, and overall had positive experiences.
I can picture myself as a student. I was always so well prepared, ready to learn, focused on the objectives, and looking out for the little guy. I was also shy and quiet. I think I would have blossomed at an earlier age if I had been given the opportunity to lead. If I was empowered to take the lead and assume responsibility, it would have grown my confidence.
What are the Group Roles?
You can find lots of different versions of group roles online. The ones I always used are: Captain, Recorder, Time Keeper, Organizer. The main responsibilities of each role stay the same regardless of what we’re working on. Whether it’s a lab, group assignment, or classroom task. Each role is in charge of a particular area:
- Captain – checks the directions, talks to the teacher, makes sure turns are fair. The Captain is the most “leader” role in the group.
- Recorder– writes down all the data, shares data with the group.
- Organizer -gets equipment, coordinates clean-up. Aka the “Equipment Manager.”
- Timekeeper – runs the stopwatch if required, keeps the group on time.
Even though each role has a specialty, every group member contributes and participates towards the group’s efforts. Unless stated otherwise, each group member turns in their own lab or assignment. They are responsible for getting the data from the experiment, which is documented by the Recorder.
When to Use Group Roles
In labs there’s a complex procedure to navigate. You need to negotiate taking turns. There’s equipment to manage and objectives to master. All of this must be done in a limited time! That’s a lot! It takes teamwork and shared responsibility to do labs well. I seriously couldn’t do labs without group roles!
I use Group Roles with group work and when students work in teams. They make sure the team responsibility is shared. This ensures no one slacks off and doesn’t take part.
Group Roles also help with classroom activities. 35 people inside one classroom is a lot. That’s a lot of bodies, lots of talking, lots of moving, and a lot of paper! Group roles for class tasks are crucial to help things run smoothly and efficiently. Group roles come in handy for picking up and returning supplies, and cleaning up after an activity. Basically any time I need a designated person to coordinate a task.
The Benefits of Group Roles
Group Roles practice real-world skills like communication, collaboration, confidence, leadership, and problem-solving.
Group roles require that students work together. Each role comes with responsibility that holds students accountable for their words and actions. They need to communicate with one another and coordinate their efforts to get the job done.
Students can’t just check out and zone out. Their group is counting on them to do their part so that all together they can meet their goals.
Students have innate strengths and skills. Some are organized, meticulous, and detail-oriented. Others are confident, extroverted, and a cohesive force within a group. The different personality types come together and make a robust team.
There are natural leaders in every class. I see these students and I admire them for their confidence and natural people skills. They take charge. They have what it takes to get the job done on their own or in a team. They are natural Captains.
Other students have what it takes but need some direction and encouragement. With some permission to be in charge, they take the lead and do really well. Students are sometimes pushed into more commanding roles than they are used to. They go outside their comfort zones, which is where we learn and grow.
Group Roles and Problem-Solving
If there’s a question or disagreement, the group needs to discuss amongst themselves. Most of the time they can work together to figure it out. If no one knows, the group mutually agrees that they need to ask the teacher for clarification.
Working in teams, as opposed to working individually, develops students’ speaking and listening skills. They practice the language of proposition and support. They state their position, recommend solutions, and share their views.
The Captain is the point person within a group. The Captain gathers the information from the team and relays the problem or message to the teacher. Questions get funneled through The Captain. They get my attention. If it’s super straight-forward, I answer the query on the spot. The Captain takes the information back and shares it with the group.
Other times the problems are more nuanced. Like when there’s an issue with the equipment or their data came out weird. I come over to the table and talk to the group. The Captain state the group’s needs. After that I involve every group member in the discussion. They all have individual and valuable ideas to contribute.
If you’ve ever heard of Ask 3 Before Me, that’s what this reminds me of. It keeps me from bopping around the classroom. I don’t have to answer one million individual questions as they come up like whack-a-mole.
Even better, students work on communication, collaboration, and problem-solving. I love that this method challenges their “Google” brains which are accustomed to immediate answers.
Overcoming Challenges with Group Roles
Group Roles are pretty self explanatory. But I can’t just sit back and let the students run the show. For Group Roles to work well, I do lots of modeling. I demonstrate turn taking and collaboration. I prompt students to practice their skills when I see opportunities. I give praise using positive reinforcement by acknowledging successes.
The Captain has the most active role in coordinating the group’s activity. However, it doesn’t mean that they do everything and everyone else just watches. My first year teaching I had Captains trying to do it all. They were a bit possessive of the lab equipment and performing the tasks in the procedure. I found myself mitigating disagreements within groups because sharing and turn taking just weren’t happening.
With practice I learned to navigate these situations better. I don’t know if it was me being a new teacher and new to group roles, or something else. It was also 6th grade, and I think at that age students are emerging in their maturity.
It’s sad, but despite everything, some students just sit there. They won’t talk to anybody, they don’t participate. Group roles can help motivate these students. Their group members count on them to fulfill their role, and they get encouragement from their team members. The group members get something out of it too. You don’t really know something until you can teach it or explain it to someone else.
It’s no fun to have a group member who isn’t a team player and won’t contribute. For this reason and others, I make sure to rotate seating and groups. I rotate seating twice a quarter, about every month. I’m happy to say that I usually see growth with these students. I think Group Roles is a part of the improvement they make over time.
Give Group Roles a Try!
I wanted to write about Group Roles for a long time. It’s one of my top classroom management strategies. I use it almost on a daily basis. It’s great for new teachers because it is so easy to implement.
If you want to give Group Roles a try, check out my blog post How to Teach Group Roles. I hope it helps!
Do you use Group Roles in your classroom? What other methods do you use to increase collaboration and teamwork? Leave a comment, I would love to hear from you! If you want to read more about classroom management and teaching strategies, check out my blog posts below!
One thought on “Effective Classroom Management: Harnessing the Power of Group Roles”