TEAMBUILDING

As a future teachers, we should reflect on the topic of Teamwork in education.

WHEN THE BEST AND THE BRIGHTEST COME TOGETHER, THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS

The term "teambuilding" makes reference to the process of building teams, not merely putting students together to work, but turning them into a cooperative and caring team.

These are the main aims of this activity:

• To create a positive atmosphere in our classes. An effort must be taken in order to achieve respect among the students and a favourable mood of the group. It has to be taken into account the fact that we are going to work with a dynamic, vivid and assorted group of young people. The objective is to get all students involved and to make sure that nobody is being undervalued. Context is paramount and because of that we have to adapt ourselves to the different educational contexts in which we get into.The development of this task in schools with scarce homogeneity is quite complex.
• Team identity or solidarity with the peers. It is necessary to outstand the creation of social ties with learners who are looking after each other, friendship and the feelings of solidarity, affection, team work and fellowship.
• Mutual support. The members of the team care about each other, so that school has the perfect climate of interaction, coexistence and cooperation to establish social relations among the peers.
• Valuing differences. The matter is that we must teach peers to tolerate diversity and be aware of its advantages. Students have to be conscius about the importance of "being yourself", because every person has something which makes him/her special. They should celebrate this variety of opinions, values and perspectives of real life.
• Together everyone achieves more. That is the meaning of a successful TEAM!

Personally, I believe that one fundamental principle to take into consideration is cooperation: as social beings, students will be in constant interaction in their adult life. As a consequence it will be of great usefulness for them in future because such skills are essential if our students of today will work well in the terms of diversity. So, to learn to work with others is the key. 

 In class I learned some strategies like activites to promote a cooperative learning. By working cooperatively teachers can better identify students´ needs and plan for their success. One of them is the role-playing game in which each student has an assigned paper and the teacher creates a topic or situation to put into practice. Students generate the well-known "brainstorming of ideas", so this activity raise their competitive instinct and encourages students to work in teams. 

One of the main priciples I will punt into practice without any doubt is the fact that I have to lay down a set of rules of behaviour and answer the question "what kind of teacher am I and why?". The first contact face-to-face between teacher and learners is fundamental. 

I really think that the Team-Buidling activity helps to create a sense of community in the classroom.

Quotations

Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progrees, working together is success. Henry Ford

A successful team beats with one heart. 

Every team needs a hero, every hero needs a team. 

                                                      Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean.