Student Contributor: K. Baum
Placing different colored dots on a blank note card can be used to group students. When you are needing to group you will hand out a note card with a different colored dot and the students will have to find their peer(s) with he same colored dot on the note card. This help prevent students being left out when students are grouping up.
Before handing out the note cards the teacher will put one color dot sticker on a blank note card. When it’s time to put student into groups, the teacher will hand out the note cards. Or the students can come up and grab a note card from the teacher. Depending on how many groups the teacher want will result on how many colors are given out. After the dots are given out the students that have the same dot will group together. Something that the teacher would need to keep in mind is to plan if students are absent and how their absences will affect grouping.
This tool will fall under the preventative phase as this tool helps prevent the stress and panic of trying to find partners. There is always a couple students that panic that they won’t find a partner when the teacher says “find a partner” or “Find a group of ____”. This could be because the students are afraid, they will get rejected from a partner or are just shy. This strategy prevents this from happening.
The theory that this falls under is student-directed and collaborative theory. The note cards are made before hand by the teacher and are used in most cases by the teacher. But this is also for the students to help make the process of finding partners and groups easier. Depending on what the teacher does the student can have an opportunity to grab their own color note card (this is done randomly by the note cards with the colors facing down so they don’t choose the same color as their friends), which gives students some control.
More Information –
Tool Source: I got this partly from a teacher in high school and from Gus.
