I encourage collaboration in my classroom by allowing the students to work within groups as we go through the lesson. Each lesson has stations, and within each station, students rotate as a team. The station teams change with each lesson as we go through a unit. The students are also seated in a way that lends itself to collaboration. 

The students also have to work with one another to complete lab exercises. The labs are set up so that it makes it easier for the students to work as a team.

One-on-one instruction: I use one-on-one instructions for students who are either behind pace or cannot pass a mastery check. Each week I build into the schedule some time to conference with my students. 

During the conference time, students will complete a reflection sheet where they are required to set a goal for the lesson. We also discuss any questions they may have. If the student does not have any questions, we review the mastery check that was not passed. After the conference, the student is sent to rewatch the lesson and take the alternative mastery check. 

Small group instruction: Each week, when I check through assignment submissions, if I have a student or students who have missing assignments, I will place them into a small group for remediation. 

During this time, the students can conference with me for help. I sit at their station and give them the support that they need to get back on pace or help them to further break down the concept. 

I use stations in my class, and each station is assigned a particular task to complete. My small group station is for the students who need more support.

Whole group instruction: Every class starts off in a whole group. The class completes the Class Starter during the first ten minutes, and we then review together. 

I also do some notes together so students don’t feel like they are always learning through videos. I introduce the scientific phenomena this way as well. We do our "Wonderings and Noticings" together before moving into the self-paced work. 

My favorite teacher tip is to make sure that you do not number your lessons in your instructional videos. I shifted a lesson named 1.3, and later it changed to 1.4. When I was going through the Virtual Mentorship Program, I learned to stay away from this, but please take that advice. Now in my videos, I only name the topic without referring to a lesson by number in the video.

Also, I print out the lesson practice sheets for the entire lesson. These contain the Must Do’s and Should Do’s. I have learned that many students like the choice of completing on paper or computer. 

Lastly, I use stations and rotations in my class to keep all of my students organized. One station is reserved for students who are behind pace. This allows the students to work cooperatively as they move through the lesson. The students who are working within a station are allowed to help one another. They will usually move on to each phase of the lesson together. With each lesson, I change the groups so that everyone in the class gets an opportunity to work with each other.