Whenever I was forced to do group work in school, I would quietly resist. When I first came to Carondelet and our PD days inevitably required groups of teachers to create and perform skits, I felt a muted dread. Maybe it was the nature of these assignments, or never explicitly being taught how to work with others, but I generally believed that I could complete most tasks better and more efficiently on my own. So when Sarah and Rachel from Teaming by Design came last year to present their work, I was an unlikely candidate to subscribe to their ideas. But something clicked for me that day, and I began to see teaming in a totally different light.

I have made it one of my main goals this year to learn more about teaming, and how to implement teaming into my classes. Over the summer, I read Amy Edmondson’s Teaming to Innovate, and became more aware of the overall purpose and effectiveness of working in teams. When done well, teaming promotes experimentation, embraces failure, and encourages diversity. When I imagine the future working world that our students will enter into, I believe that collaboration will be a skill that is just as valuable as reading or writing. Earlier this year I talked to a friend of mine who works for a major tech company about the role teaming plays in his work life. He said that just about everything is done collaboratively, and that when he hires people, problem solving skills, creativity and interpersonal skills are the most important qualities he’s looking for.

I have always tried to mix in some group work assignments into my teaching, but mostly with the intention of breaking up the monotony and giving students a chance to socialize. The point of my group work was never to teach students how to work together. I did always quietly hope that my group activities would inspire students to collaborate equitably and tap into each other’s strengths to produce a quality piece of work. But what would often happen was the student who cared most about the grade for the assignment would do the majority of the work, and the other group members would stay out of her way and let her proceed. 

Something important I have learned this year is that there is a difference between group work and teaming. Teams determines their own goals for a project, and determine their own process for meeting those goals. Teaming is not a matter of giving students an assignment and explaining the steps or assigning roles; teaming happens when students have the opportunity to create the terms of the project themselves then determine the process that will work best for them.

While I mostly consider my Podcasting and Storytelling class a writing class in disguise, it has also evolved into a teaming class. About six weeks into the semester, I begin transitioning from a whole class environment to one that is entirely team-oriented. Before my students choose the two people they will be making a podcast with, I take a week to mix the students up in as many different teams as possible and have them complete mini-teaming activities. One activity requires the team to build a structure using only the contents of their backpacks, and the highest structure wins candy; another asks them to develop the best possible podcast idea in ten minutes then pitch it to the class. It’s like speed dating for podcast partners, and I want them to see the possibilities for who they might collaborate best with.

During the fall semester, I let my students have free choice for who they would work with, and despite all the teaming activities and discussions about how heterogeneous groups often work best, many still chose to work with their friends. But I decided that if I was going to learn about teaming dynamics, I would have to set my micro-managing tendencies aside and just watch as the different groups went about the very complex task of creating a podcast. 

As the weeks went by, it was like I was watching a social experiment unravel, and I gathered as much qualitative data as I could. A handful of teams worked unexpectedly well together, agreeing on a topic that they were all interested in and taking personal responsibility for completing their share of the work. Some went through ups and downs, struggling for a few weeks, then making comebacks and bursts of progress. And some absolutely crashed and burned – a few friendships fell apart and one team turned in each of their parts of the podcast individually because things had turned toxic.

Here are a few of the reflections I got throughout the semester:

“I am a bit of a micro-manager and control freak. It was easy for me to be this role because I am a total type A personality. I think my micromanagement worked well overall for our team because I made sure everyone was finished in time. I really hope they weren’t annoyed with me being up in their business, but we did get our work done and that is what matters.”

“They kept asking throughout the research what our topic is for the podcast. It was somewhat frustrating because I kept having to repeat myself. I felt like I made it clear what our topic was, but they showed otherwise. In the first place, I should’ve forced (teammate) to speak about a topic she’s interested in.”

“At times, it was easy for me to freak out on my teammates, but I remembered that this project is a team effort and that my teammates are there for me. Collaborating with them taught me to think outside the box, try unfamiliar editing ideas, and not be afraid to speak up. After this project, I feel very confident about my communication skills with others.”

One of my biggest takeaways so far is a reminder of how absolutely complex human beings are, especially when they come together to collaborate. Also there is no formula for teaming – the point is for students to get into that messy interpersonal space and learn something about themselves and how they interact with others. Like most everything in my teaching, this is a work in progress.

If anyone is interested in meeting up to continue the conversation on teaming, there is a small group of teachers that meets in my room every few weeks to talk blended classes, teaming and other new things that we’re trying in our classes. Just let me know and I’ll add you to the email list. Or come observe my podcasting class sometime – I’d love to get more feedback.