Progressively Presenting

Being a part of a jigsaw group helped me realize how positive of a tool it can be in a classroom. By setting up groups in such a way, students learn both individual accountability, but also how to work with a partner and in a larger group. It also ensures that no one single person becomes accountable for all the work. Furthermore, I've noticed in our social studies methods class that these groups serve as a median point for presenting. We first presented to the class about ourselves, a topic we already knew very well and were comfortable with, and then presented to our smaller jigsaw groups on a topic we were not previously familiar with. This sort of build up of presentations can help ease the nerves of students who are not comfortable speaking in front of the class by slowly challenging them and increasing their confidence. Presenting should be something students become comfortable with as they will likely be faced with the task of presenting many times in their academic career, as well as professionally later on in life.