{"id":284,"date":"2017-10-06T14:28:59","date_gmt":"2017-10-06T18:28:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/edt431-531\/?p=284"},"modified":"2017-10-06T14:29:15","modified_gmt":"2017-10-06T18:29:15","slug":"who-packs-your-parachute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/2017\/10\/who-packs-your-parachute\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Packs Your Parachute?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I have a question for you: <strong>why do we teach teamwork in schools?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>While you think about that one, consider this story-<\/p>\n<p>Charles Plumb was a jet pilot for the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam war.\u00a0 He had been on countless missions, but on his 75th mission (only five days before he was scheduled to return home), his plane was shot down and completely destroyed by an air missile.\u00a0 In a panic, Plumb managed to eject from the plane and parachute safely to the ground&#8211;enemy ground.\u00a0 Plumb was captured, tortured, and spent the next six years in a Vietnam war prison.<\/p>\n<p>Years later, Charlie was sitting in a restaurant with his wife when a man came up to him and exclaimed, &#8220;You&#8217;re Plumb!\u00a0 You flew jet fighters in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk.\u00a0 You were shot down!&#8221;\u00a0 Plumb was shocked.\u00a0 &#8220;How did you know that?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I packed your parachute,&#8221; the man replied.\u00a0 <strong>&#8220;I guess it worked!&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>(Watch the video below to hear Plumb tell this story personally.)<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Charles Plumb on Who Packed Your Parachute\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JqtUlMA3Jqo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>This is the importance of teamwork.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Teamwork is necessary in the classroom, and not just because it will help them with their studies&#8211;teamwork is something they are going to use for the rest of their lives.\u00a0 Teamwork is what saved Charles Plumb&#8217;s life.\u00a0 And to this day, the question he often asks his audience is simple:<\/p>\n<p>Who packs your parachute?<\/p>\n<p>In a classroom, are students understanding that every single role is important?\u00a0 That even the students who seem to do the &#8220;easy routes&#8221; or the &#8220;simple questions&#8221; bring something valuable into the classroom?<\/p>\n<p>I find this lesson of utmost importance for our students today.\u00a0 When we place students into groups, are we doing it just to claim it was a group activity?\u00a0 Or are our students truly co-dependent on one another?\u00a0 The latter is imperative in classrooms; students need to understand the importance of each other.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Every single student has something to offer in the classroom.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>And it goes beyond just the teacher recognizing this.\u00a0 We need to be encouraging our students to realize this about their peers, leading to successful teamwork and united classrooms.\u00a0 Their voices matter, and every role they play matters, no matter how small it may seem.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Teamwork goes beyond problem solving-teamwork creates bonds between students.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;ve ever been on a sports team or involved in a band, you know how incredible it feels when you as a group succeed in something.\u00a0 This is the environment we need to be striving for in classrooms&#8211;students should see each other not just as peers, but as teammates.\u00a0 Not only will this help students feel comfortable in the classroom, but it will allow students to work together to answer tough questions and figure out harder curriculum.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How can we do this?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/twitter.com\/FieldstoneJK_12\/status\/915625464487661570D<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s not simple, but it&#8217;s absolutely worth it.\u00a0 Here are some ideas:<\/p>\n<p>-Take time in the classroom to do student-bonding activities.\u00a0 Whether this be games, problem-solving activities, or even just get-to-know-you projects, give students the opportunity to get to know one another.<\/p>\n<p>-Create teams, but make sure to switch them up every once in a while.\u00a0 Allow students to grow comfortable with one group before rotating them with other students, ultimately striving for a classroom where every student is comfortable with one another.<\/p>\n<p>-Use teamwork often in curriculum.\u00a0 When teaching, don&#8217;t make students do everything individually&#8211;give them the opportunity to work with one another on the things that are harder\/the things they&#8217;re struggling with.<\/p>\n<p>-Utilize interdependence&#8211;group activities where everyone is dependent upon everyone else.\u00a0 Relate it back to the, &#8220;Who packs your parachute?&#8221; concept, so students understand that they are dependent upon one another in order to succeed.<\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.pinimg.com\/236x\/18\/25\/fc\/1825fc7f7ce0af82ab2a916aa24bd3ab--love-quotes-images-inspirational-love-quotes.jpg?ssl=1\" alt=\"Image result for teamwork in the classroom quotes\" \/><\/p>\n<p>I heard it put very simply once, and you may have heard this quote before:<\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.ebayimg.com\/images\/g\/0~MAAOSw14xWHjS6\/s-l300.jpg?ssl=1\" alt=\"Image result for we're all mad here\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re all mad here&#8221; is a quote from Alice and Wonderland, but I like to think of it a little bit differently&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><strong>M<\/strong>aking<\/p>\n<p><strong>A<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>D<\/strong>ifference<\/p>\n<p>In our classroom, let&#8217;s all be a little mad, and take extra care to pack each other&#8217;s parachutes well.<\/p>\n<p>If you have any other thoughts, I&#8217;d love to hear them!\u00a0 Drop them in the comments below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>&nbsp; I have a question for you: why do we teach teamwork in schools? While you think about that one, consider this story- Charles Plumb <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/2017\/10\/who-packs-your-parachute\/\" title=\"Who Packs Your Parachute?\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2138,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[35,15,11,45],"class_list":["post-284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cooperative-learning","tag-cooperative-learning","tag-education","tag-science-teacher","tag-teamwork"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2138"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=284"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":291,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284\/revisions\/291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}