Today I am thinking about the stamina it takes to teach right now, whether it is hybrid or distance learning. Teachers are working around the clock to create, deliver, and give feedback on curriculum presented in a manner never used before.

Learning teams are one way to alleviate some of this pressure on teachers.

Having a robust social structure in place, with student input, creates the foundation for student-centered learning. Teams made up of students with prior social connections are able to move more quickly into Bloom’s taxonomy of learning instead of being stalled in the social threat and survival-oriented parts of the brain that inhibit higher-order thinking.

Robust learning teams also help shift much of the work of creation, delivery, and feedback from the teacher to the students. Teams can develop routes of inquiry and methods of demonstrating knowledge. Teams can lead activities for the class. Teams also bring our students together with their peers in a time where they desperately need each other. Check out slides on the resource page for steps to create learning teams.