We recognize that students walk in the door of this classroom with issues of status behind them. That they recognize themselves as being a science person or a non-science person and that it’s through student discourse and group work that they will start to dispel those beliefs about not only themselves but about their peers. As we think about our equity goal around science education, that is central to it.

We do go through a process of teaching kids what it is to actually work in group. We get the kids to understand some of the basic behavior norms about group roles and group work in general. We start with a unit that’s all about group work.

Students get that experience for sure at the beginning but we really recommend that teachers come back to it when issues arise. So there are times where they can just, maybe just completely stop the lesson and then it might go back to some of the skill builders and say let’s do this one again. We also really advise teachers and I see them doing it all the time, just reminding the students what is their role? What does it mean to play that role?

As a group remember reporters, recorders not only are you recording the information and making sure that you should have this specific information that your group talked about, but I’m gonna call on you guys to give me your answers ’cause I’m gonna put them up on the board. Each group member has a role. They have to actually participate in order for the group to achieve whatever it is they’re trying to achieve.

My job is the recorder-reporter. So with that job I have to write down all our notes and all our step-by-step stuff.

My job is the harmonizer. If they’re like arguing over a project, I’ll say well you don’t need to argue. It’s just that we have to figure out who can do which one or we can change roles.

I am facilitator and I’m supposed to keep everybody on task.

I’m a materials manager. So basically what I do, if we’re making a poster I get the poster paper and the materials.

They understand that they all have a role to play. And that I think is the biggest part of it and that they take agency over their group.

[Holthuis] It is absolutely critical for us to help address issues of equity in the classroom. If I don’t speak English well I might have some other tremendous skill that
is gonna come into play. The curriculum provides students who might traditionally not have succeeded well in school a lot of ins into the content.

[Ryan] Each of those students is bringing an aspect of smarts into the problem that they’re trying to solve around science.

When a group is working well together, it sort of just hums with the discussion, the interactions. (students talking)

The whole year or like one day?

[Holthuis] And see students building off each other. Not just talking at each other.
But there’s something happening where the, some of the whole is much bigger than the parts.

And it’s only through making sure that that group work is productive, is useful, is respectful and is targeted at learning not only for themselves but as a community that we will get there.

[Allen-Sanchez] One of the things that I like to say as a part of one of our norms, if one person is not done, no one’s done.

Aptos Middle School