Reflection: Collaboration during group work

I used the collaborative process with a group of my ninth grade students.  In the collaborative process, the goal is to work until we all get what we want. In a classroom the scarcest resource is time. I had a group of ninth grade students that were in disagreement about what theme/style they should select for their Google Slideshow project.  The assignment and rubric clearly state the theme of the slides has to be unified and add to the presentation (not detract).  One group of 4 was in disagreement and split into two "camps" about theme. I knew which theme was the best choice, but instead of telling them, I wanted them to figure it out. I gave them 10 minutes to work it out. They had to examine the pros and cons of each theme in accordance with the assignment task and rubric.  After this, I told them to look at the themes again decide which was the best for the task (additional time granted here). This didn't really sit well with the two that wanted the bolder colors, so I suggested they look at all the possible themes one more time and see if they can find one that all four felt comfortable with. After a few more minutes, they all agreed and were happy with a theme that fit the assignment requirements.  It wasn't compromise because they ended up with a new choice of theme that had been previously overlooked.  It was the collaborative process because they had to talk it out and work on it until they found the option they were all happy with. 

This Badgelist about the collaborative process reminded me to use the collaborative process. Because of time scarcity, it is so easy to just solve the problems for the students or tell them to "quickly compromise."  So I have decided to make a mental note to use the collaborative process more in the future.