depressors, pipe cleaners, plastic rods, paper clips, and/or straws. Challenge students to construct their tallest possible free-standing structure using no more than 25 building pieces (e.g., LEGOs ®). Challenge students to construct their longest possible free-standing bridge using only newspaper (no other materials or equipment). 0 0 oo o O Give Students Opportunities to Work in Teams Many of the skills possessed by successful stylists involve interacting with others. When you have students work in teams, you give them opportunities to develop and practice some of those skills. Team size can range from 2-8 students. You should consider the size and complexity of the project to determine the most appropriate team size. Depending on your goals, you may wish to divide students into teams or have them choose their own teams. In addition, teams can be assigned purposefully or randomly. Your strategy for developing teams can greatly impact the project results. For example: Self-selected teams tend to result in higher ability students working together and lower ability students working together. When assigning teams, you can purposefully group students with differing strengths and experiences. This, creates more team diversity, which provides many opportunities for students to learn from each other. When teachers assign teams randomly, students can work with people they may not know well. This will give them opportunities to develop and practice important interpersonal communication skills. There is no "correct" or best strategy for grouping students; you need to consider the learning goals, then choose the most appropriate strategy to meet those goals. Some strategies for grouping students randomly and purposefully follow. Methods for Randomly Dividing Students Into Teams Numbering off Decide how many groups you need, then have students number off. For example, if you want six groups in your class, have students count off from one through sixrepeating until everyone has a number. Then all the ones are a group, all the twos a group, and so forth, resulting in six groups. M&Ms Pass out a colored M&M to each student as they enter the classroom. (Be sure they know not to eat the M&M yet!) When class begins, instruct all of the students with red M&Ms to sit together, all the green M&Ms to sit together, and so forth. Oncestudents are in teams, share the rest of the candy if you wish. Personal interest/information inventory Ask your students some type of personal question, then group them according to their responses. Examples: Ask "What month is your birthday?" Then instruct students who were born in the same month to work together. If teams are uneven, months can be joined together or split in half. Ask "How many siblings do you have?" Then put all students with one sibling into one group, two siblings in another group, and so forth. Ask students to line up in order of their birth month and datewithout talking (i.e., using nonverbal communication). Show them where the line begins (January 1) and ends (December 31). Once lined up, divide students into the team sizes you desire. For example, if you want teams of four students each, walk to the beginning of the line and identify the first four students as a team, then the next four students as a team, and so forth. Random "puzzle" 1. Gather several pictures (e.g., magazine photos of fashionable hairstyles) or something else related to the topic students will be studying. 2. Cut each picture into several pieces, like a puzzle. For example, if you want students working in teams of three, cut each photo into three pieces. Hint: You can collect the pictures to use again. 3. Place all the pieces in a box or bag and have students pull them out randomly. 4 0 0 0 0 0 o o 4. Have students find their teammates by finding the other students who hold pieces of the same "puzzle" and putting them together.' 5. If you are using "puzzle" pictures or charts that are related to what students will be studying, they can be a springboard into your project Methods for Purposefully Grouping Students Into Teams Note: It is important to assign teams when mixed abilities/ personalities are desired. If students complain about not working with people they choose, remind them they will not often be in the position to choose their co-workers either. If a class demonstrates maturity, they may occasionally be able to work in self-selected teams. Pick the leaders This can be a good place to start, working with students' natural abilities and existing group dynamics. You select the natural group leaders in the class and put one in each team. Then place the other students into these groups, paying attention to their abilities and levels of responsibility and distributing them evenly across the teams. Assign the leaders (and other roles) After the team has done one project together, you can keep them