Sunday, December 10, 2017

Did somebody say....waffles!?

I had a really great question come my way last week regarding (1) collaboration, (2) accountability for learning in team work, and (3) purpose for students working together in a project. ‘Twas a nice li’l conversation which has clearly continued to sit with me throughout the weekend because it was triggered again during my breakfast hour today at Waffle House. Yep. Waffle House is now the inspiration for my weekly emails/ blog posts. Stay with me....

Jared (my hubby) and I sat down at the counter and watched three men call out orders and take responsibility for making whatever food was at the station they were assigned to. There seemed to be a guy in charge of grains- waffles/bread/hash browns, another on eggs, and a third on meat.


It. Was. Seamless! I ordered a sausage, egg, hash brown bowl (in case you care) which required all three cooks to work together towards a shared goal... satisfying my stomach! Each of them not only completed their job, but completed it to quality (as measured by the fact I overate and didn’t have to send anything back. #sorrynotsorry ) To be more objective in my assessment, I’ll ground their team performance in our NTN team collaboration checklist (this is the HS checklist):


I could easily check off every item from this list as observed from this one interaction, except their ability to "regularly revisit the norms to assess their effectiveness." This one time observation of their team work didn't allow me to see "regular" revisiting of their norms. When I breakfast was ready, the team said "order up" almost in unison, which to me is evidence of "passionate ownership" and I even had a chance to see how they engaged in conflict resolution together. (Keep reading.... )

Jared’s hash brown bowl was (reportedly) equally as delicious, but there was a problem in its delivery. The guy working on the meat station only made one sausage patty rather than the two they are supposed to have. The guy at the egg station said, "2 sausage per bowl, not just 1." The guy working grains hustled to the freezer/refrigerator, grabbed the sausage, gave it to the meat station guy and he put it on the griddle. There was clearly an understanding of when to step in to meet goals if needed...i.e., a plan for conflict resolution. The result? They delivered my bowl and waited an extra minute or so for the sausage to finish cooking before they could deliver the completed product to the table.

You see, the behaviors and interactions... the collaboration... of the team still produced a quality product. Even his individual behaviors which allow him to collaborate with the team were in check. To be more objective in my assessment of that individual cook, I’ll ground his performance in our NTN individual collaboration rubric (this is the HS rubric).


As an individual contributor to this collaborative experience, he was able to build on the thinking/work of others, equally participate in the completion of the task, and follow the processes the group had in place with respect to others. As his teammates informed him of the correction to make, he used his role in accordance with group norms to perform quality work that contributed to group success.  

So, in both places (individually and as a team), collaborative skills seem to check out! But Jared's bowl was made incorrectly when it almost came off of the line. Which outcome was lacking in proficiency then!? When really paying attention to the challenge (using only 1 sausage patty vs 2) it was a misunderstanding of knowledge and/or application of knowledge (i.e. Knowledge and Thinking). Also note, it would be worth celebrating this employee's agency in the domain of "seeking feedback".

There ARE some moments when our student teams can’t produce the finished product on time due to either the collaborative behaviors OR knowledge acquired of individual students, but allowing space for each individual to grow AND demonstrate where his/her knowledge and  thinking is applied allows him/her to have opportunities for refinement (just as this cook did). The way students (inter)act collaboratively as individuals certainly serves as a foundation for their application of content. This is why consistently using the NTN rubrics is of such great value also. Using the rubrics regularly allows both you, the educator, and the student to familiarize yourselves with the language of the various rubrics to ensure your teaching & assessment practices are aimed at the actual growth area, and not the perceived one (which here, could have easily been seen as collaboration because one team member slowed the product from being completed, but not because of their collaborative skills. Rather, knowledge and/or thinking delayed the product creation process).  


Peace, love, and I blame the pictures for making this so long,
Sarah