Overview For Teachers

TEAMWORK: The ability to work collaboratively and cooperatively with others toward a common goal or success of the team; participate appropriately as a team member by assisting others or requesting help when needed; handle criticism, conflicts, and complaints appropriately; demonstrate leadership; relate well to others; take an interest in what others say and do in order to build relationships; contribute to the group with ideas, suggestions, and effort; the ability to participate in group decision -making.

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PURPOSE: Upon completion of this module, the student will understand the importance of teamwork and being a team player in the workplace. In addition, the objectives listed below should be met.

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OBJECTIVES:

 Ability to be a great team player in different aspects of life

 Ability to recognize the different roles that are required for a team to be successful

 Ability to understand that team work and collaboration isn’t always easy

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OVERVIEW:

This module concentrates on teaching students the importance of teamwork and being a team player. The key to teamwork is collaborating and cooperating with others in many different settings. Teamwork and being a team player is not only a skill that is used in sports, but it’s also very important in the workplace. The ability to work well with others is a skill that will bring success in the future . In addition, students will have an opportunity to gain an understanding of the importance of teamwork by participating in various activities designed to stimulate thought and discussion.

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TEACHERS: WHAT ARE YOU OBSERVING?

What does teamwork look like in the classroom or in school in general? A great way to answer this and get things going is through engagement with the students. Ask your students these questions:

1. What does teamwork look like in class?

2. How does being a team player affect other students? Example: Co -workers, classmates, teammates, etc.

3. What does teamwork look like within your learning?

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RELEVANCY OF TEAMWORK:

Employers look to recruit employees who are great team players and are able to work effectively with others. Many companies and businesses expect co -workers to collaborate on projects and assignments so having these skills is beneficial to being successful in the future.

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LESSON:

Tennis Ball Turmoil
Time Allocation: 20  minutes
Materials/Resources:  computer with internet access/projector (teacher), tennis balls/bean bags/anything soft that can be thrown,
a large area to allow for movement/activity, whiteboard, markers, computers/tablets/smartphones (students - optional)

ANTICIPATORY SET IDEA:

Show students the following YouTube video: “Pulling Together by John Murphy.”
 Ask what they learned about teamwork from this video

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WATCH THE VIDEO:

DIRECT INSTRUCTION:

As a class, come up with definitions for the following terms that are agreed upon by everyone:
o Teamwork
o Collaboration
o Cooperation
o Team player
o Participation
o Strategy
o Goal
 Write the words and definitions on the whiteboard.

GUIDED ACTIVITY:

Have students get in groups of 5-6 and stand in a circle with one person holding a tennis ball (or other item).
 As a group, they need to come up with a pattern to toss the tennis ball around the circle so everyone can touch it and it ends back up to the person who started.
  o Two rules: no one can move from the spot they are in and the tennis ball cannot be passed to either person next to you – it must be tossed across the middle of the circle to someone else.
 Give students a few minutes to figure out their pattern and to practice.
   o Have them try to do it as fast as they can.
 As students get better at their pattern, give them another tennis ball so now they have to complete the pattern twice.
 As they continue to get better, keep giving them more tennis balls (no more than 5 total).
 Now, inform the students that you are going to have a competition with the whole class. When you say go, each group will start throwing the five tennis balls in the pattern they have been practicing, one at a time. Any group that drops a tennis ball is out and any group that messes up their pattern is out.
 The group that doesn’t drop any tennis balls and doesn’t mess up the pattern will be the winners.
   o If there is a tie, have the teams go head to head until one of them messes up.

CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING:

 Technology Use: You could create a Kahoot ( Kahoot.com) which is an interactive game that students can log into from their computers or smart phones and it will give you instant feedback.

 Non-Technology: “Take and Pass” – Students will get in groups and will have one piece of paper per group. Then pose the question, “How does being more productive affect your life?” One student will start and will write their response on the piece of paper. When they finish, they will pass it to the person on their right and they will then write down their response. Students will continue to write down their responses and pass the piece of paper until time is up. When time is up, students will debrief and will then share their responses with the class.

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ETHICAL SCENARIO--Optional (if not using, skip  to "review and closing")

The Ethical Choice Scenarios have been developed to provide teachers with the ability to make the material applicable to real-life and relevant to the students. Within this guide, directions and prompts for the teacher will be in BLUE for ease of facilitation.

 

READ THE FOLLOWING SCENARIO OUT LOUD TO THE STUDENTS: 

A DIFFERENCE OF OPINION
You have been hoping for an opportunity to work on this topic for one of your class projects for a long time and finally it is happening. This is something you are very passionate about, but during the first meeting with your project team you quickly realize that they do not agree with you. Although you figured most people thought the same way as you did about this topic, you were wrong! As you sit there, you find yourself having a hard time listening to the others express their opinions and quite frankly you have stopped interacting all together. Normally you work hard to build relationships with other team members, but you become very quiet, no longer sharing any of your thoughts or ideas like you did at the beginning of the meeting. Finally, one of the team members looks at you and asks, “So, what do you think? You have been quiet for a while.” And now... what do you say?

ASK THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS: (display them to the class if necessary)

1. How many of you have already been faced with this scenario in real life?

2. What are the possible options for you in this situation?

3. What are possible positive or negative consequences for you, depending on your decision?

4. What are possible impacts to your team and your project, depending on what you say?

GUIDED DISCUSSION: ASK STUDENTS TO SHARE THEIR THOUGHTS ON THE SITUATION AND HOW THEY
ANSWERED THE QUESTIONS.

NOTE 1 : To help facilitate discussion, share any personal experiences you may have encountered with this same sort of issue.

NOTE 2 : Another option to foster further critical thinking is to then ask students, “Would you want someone else to feel this way on your team?”

NOTE 3 : Another option to foster further critical thinking is to then ask students, “What values do you think are in tension here, why is it an ethical dilemma?

CLOSING DISCUSSION: ASK THE STUDENTS , WHAT IMPACTS COULD YOUR RESPONSE HAVE ON OTHER PEOPLE’S EVALUATION OF YOUR ABILITY TO WORK IN A TEAM?” FOR EXAMPLE – THE TEACHER? THE OTHER PROJECT TEAM MEMBERS?

REVIEW AND CLOSING:

At the end of activity, revisit the definitions the class came up with on the whiteboard. Ask them how they used each of the words in the activity.

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CORRELATION TO OBSERVATION TOOL: The Frequency Observation Tool (FOT) has a category where students will be observed and rated on their ability to collaborate and be a team player. This lesson will give students the opportunity to break down what collaboration is and figure out ways to utilize it in the classroom on an everyday basis.

DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION IDEAS:

-Visual: Visual learners will benefit from having a printed copy of the worksheet.

-Auditory: Auditory learners will benefit from the group discussions and pair share.

-Kinesthetic: To benefit kinesthetic learner s, you could allow them to move around the room as they read and think. They will also benefit from the writing activities.

-ESL: ESL students would benefit from working with a partner on this assignment in case they have questions or need clarification.

-At-risk: At -risk students will benefit from the constant engagement in this lesson that will encourage them to stay on task.

-Advanced: Advanced learners could benefit from helping other students write down their schedules, or by assisting ESL or At -risk students who may need additional help .