Cooperative Learning When Girls Are Less Than Cooperative

Cooperative Learning can be as easy as completing an activity with a partner or as a group, but we all know group dynamics can get in the way of even the best-planned activities. Helping girls get the most out of working together can be difficult when you factor in their relationships to each other in and out of Girl Scouts. Let’s take a look at some common challenges and ways to address them.

Scenario 1: When our troop does group brainstorming, no one talks, or only one girl talks and the rest just go along with what she says.

Idea to help: Divide girls into groups of 3-5 to brainstorm together before reconvening as a group. This way, more ideas make it to the table. At the end, have one person from each group write their group’s ideas on a poster board that everyone can see. Prepare girls ahead of time that you’ll need someone from each group to talk about their ideas so they’re ready for this step.

Senario 2: When picking partners, some of the girls argue over who gets to be partners with one particular girl.

Idea to help: Mix it up by using mini-games or activities to assign partners. Before announcing that they are dividing into groups, consider starting the conversations by immediately announcing how you are dividing the girls, using a count off or similar system. Other ideas could be having a set of matching cards that you hand out so pairs are assigned at random.

Senario 3: I have two girls who don’t get along at school or in our troop meeting, working together always ends up disruptive and adding animosity to their relationship.

Idea to help: Forcing girls who don’t get along to work together can backfire. While your instinct might tell you to put them as partners so they can work it out, that rarely works. Instead, let them keep some space. This doesn’t mean that they never work together, but try not to make them work together one-on-one. When they do work together, perhaps in small groups, try not to put their closest allies in the groups, but girls who are more neutral, then keep an eye on the group to see how it’s going. In the meantime, consider playing a game at each meeting that focuses on learning about similarities and differences or working together. It will help them practice skills of teamwork, even if not directly with each other.

Do you have some suggestions or strategies that have worked for your girls? Share them in the comments!

Tips for Adapting an Activity to be More Hands-On

We’ve all been there. Reading the instructions for an activity we know our girls will love. But then we think about our troop of 12 girls (give or take) and think, how do I possibly give everyone a hands-on experience? It can be tricky, we know. Next time you find yourself in this situation, take a look at our suggestions below. They might not all work for your activity, but using one or two might just solve the problem.

Tip 1: Value quality over quantity

Girl Scouts is not a race. You want to give your girls lots of experiences, but even more, you want to give them quality experiences. Doing this activity in a hands-on fashion often makes it take longer to do than the alternative. Give yourself permission to slow down and let the girls try it themselves. It’s supposed to be fun. Don’t stress yourself out.

Tip 2: Can they all make their own?

Some things you do aren’t easy to divide into smaller pieces, but some are. If you’re making slime or completing your woodworking badge, look at how girls can work either individually, or in small groups, so every girl gets hands on experience. It might be tempting to make one big batch and split it up. It’s cleaner, faster, and requires less supplies. But you might miss out on engagement and interest from the girls, not to mention the accomplishment of doing it themselves.

Tip 3: Think about the roles ahead of time

Imagine you are baking cookies. Based on the recipe, you’ve decided that it’s not going to be easy to have each girl make their own. How can you still make it hands on? Plan out the roles girls can take in the activity. The more girls in your troop, the more you will need to find. For instance, each girl might measure and add an ingredient to the dough. Each girl might get 30 seconds of stirring or take turns reading the recipe. If you still feel that your troop is too big for each girl to have a role, consider dividing into two or more groups.

Tip 4: Pass along tasks outside of activities

Practice bringing hands-on tasks into other parts of your meetings. Cleaning up is a favorite of many girls, to the surprise of most of their parents. But also tasks like passing out supplies, taking notes during a brainstorm, or helping you pack up. Think about how your meeting routine operates and think about where you could institute more hands-on participation.

Tip 5: Set ground rules for your troop volunteers

Parents want to be helpful, which is wonderful, but it can sometimes get in the way of keeping girls hands-on. If you see troop parents stepping in a little too frequently, consider helping your girls and parents set some new rules. Here are our favorites:

• If you need help, you have to ask another Girl Scout for help before you can ask an adult.
• Adults can’t touch the girl’s projects.
• Adults can only answer questions with a another question that might help the girl answer her own.

Some of these tips may feel hard to adapt to, so take it slow and work towards it. It take practice and intention to keep your troop meetings hands-on, but the benefits can be amazing.