At the beginning of the year, I find it hard to form groups before I really know my students and how they work together.

Instead of having them count off in numbers or drawing sticks, I found this neat online tool at a site called Super Teacher Tools that will randomly group my students for me. It allows you to create a class list and then choose how many students you want in each group. It automatically creates the groups with just a click of the mouse.

(In addition to Group Maker, this website also has cool online review games and management tools you can use with your students.)