She prefers this method of teaching because it promotes working together and prepares students for the real world. It should also be a place where different learning styles are accommodated. In my opinion, the teacher should be the coach and facilitator, not the authority around which all learning revolves. Well-designed cooperative learning lessons accomplish Lee's objectives. Students decide on goals and the means to accomplish those goals.
Students decide which roles to play to reach goals.
Students practice negotiation and social skills and evaluate both their own contributions and those of the other group members. Students learn to collaborate and reinforce one another's strengths and observe that people with different strengths may accomplish goals differently or more efficiently. Meanwhile, added Lee, the teacher is seen as a helpful source of guidance who is there to make them successful, rather than a judge who hands out grades and marks papers with red ink. The kids bounce into my room, clamoring to know what they get to do next. The biggest excitement is when the desks are arranged in groups, and the loudest groans are when the desks are back in rows.