Introvert in an Extrovert World

The following article discusses the impact that moving to more of a collaborative learning environment has on the introverts in our classroom.

As a true introvert myself, I completely understand the dread and panic and apprehension that comes with the dreaded group project. Yet I have my tables set as groups, utilize Kagan seating strategies, and have just started a group project in our classes.

Why you might ask? Because the reality is regardless of how much us introverts might want to work by ourselves for the rest of our lives, that is not the reality of the workforce that we live in. We will work in groups whether directly or indirectly for the rest of our lives and the earlier we learn how to divide the work, work together and be effective and efficient and doing so, the more successful our children will be.

I think the right balance for any classroom is a mix of a lot of different strategies. Those that meet the needs of different learners and personality types and engage students on all different ability levels. While I love the premise of project based learning, and the research that supports this type of learning, there is no "one size fits all" for every classroom and every teacher. Nor for every student which is why every student counts!

http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/09/introverts-at-school-overlook/407467/