One Tool, Many Uses

Collaborative learning in class comes in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes, a group of three works best. Often, a quick pairing does the trick. But if you do tons of "Think-Pair-Share," you probably need a way to pair your students randomly at times. In a smart classroom where the Internet is readily accessible, a neat online tool is worth trying as it can generate random grouping of your students in twos, threes, fours, or fives very quickly.

Here are the steps:

1. At http://superteachertools.com/, scroll down to the section called "Classroom Management Tools." Look for the hotlink called "Class List Maker" for "Group Maker."


2. On the "Class List Maker" form, enter all of your students' names as specified and also enter your email address where indicated so that you can receive and save the link to your class page.


3. Save the link to your flash drive so that you can bring it with you to any classroom. This is your "permanent" master list, which you can later edit.


4. When you are ready to generate random grouping in class, open the link to your class page. If you have all the students in attendance that day, you can just click on "Group Maker" -> "Load Class" -> and one of the four number buttons (2, 3, 4, or 5) to have the tool generate the grouping for you right away.


5. If you don't have all the students in attendance, it is very easy to cut and paste and make a temporary class list. The way to do this is click on "Edit This Class" after you open your class link from your flash drive. You don't need to enter your email address again because this list--and the subsequently generated class page--is not what you would want to save. You would just use it for that day only.

Notice in addition to the "Group Maker," your class page also has a "Seating Chart" tool and a "Random Name Generator" tool, all utilizing either your master class list or your edited class list.