Working with Students Who Have a Hard Time Collaborating | Edutopia

Working with Students Who Have a Hard Time Collaborating | Edutopia:

You already know collaboration is essential to today's classroom -- especially in the age of Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and the Partnership for 21st Century Skills Framework (P21). Students who truly collaborate construct knowledge together. When we ask students to collaborate, we’re asking them to take responsibility for their learning.

Okay. You get it. Collaboration's important. But how do you motivate productive collaboration within your classroom? First, figure out what's going on with the uncollaborative student.

There are any number of reasons a student may not like to collaborate:

• Collaboration may clash with her culture.
• He simply may not understand the project or assignment.
• She may be shy or introverted.