Jigsaws are a different experience for me and I am wondering how other people relate to this.
Today we are learning about proving that quadrilaterals are parallelograms in the coordinate plane. To start, I gave small groups one theorem to look at and a guide to how to use the theorem to prove that a quadrilateral is a parallelogram. This was on a half sheet of colored paper (colored paper makes me happy).
Next, I had students find groups with one person of each color. This way, all four theorems were in the group. At this point, they were in charge of teaching their group members about their theorem and how to use it.
This is where I started to feel weird. This is where I always start to feel weird. The students worked through the entire lesson without me and I just sat back, watched and listened. I love watching them work, but what do I do at this point? I LOVE being involved in the class and I feel weird when there's no need for me.
The best part about this is that each student is learning and teaching and working. The The worst part is that I feel useless. Honestly, the prep is worth the time when students can take hold of their own learning.
I used slides to provide directions, colored paper to help with organization, and a worksheet to give students a take-away.