Scenario Response No. 7

From a pedagogical perspective, I like Marzano’s ideas on cooperative learning groups and so I group my students into formal groups of 3 or 4 students to accomplishing from processing information to engaging in small group discussions, to completing graphic organizers. However, I need to change things up a bit this last month. As I teach at a performing and visual arts school, I intend to group my students by their art’s area (dancers with dancers, musicians with musicians, creative writers with creative writers, theatre students with theatre students). I am loosely basing my grouping pattern on the Experiential Learning-based skill grouping model, emphasizing Kolb's experiential learning cycle (Concrete Experience, Reflective Observation, Abstract Conceptualization, and Active Experimentation). My goal is to have each group prepare a presentation and/or response to a text that is also a reflection of their area of the arts. Thus the artifact they produce will reflect their art.