Today I feel proud of my students. We worked hard, collaborated effectively, and got the job done. Today we "made it happen." The question...what made the difference?
I think the biggest difference was the grouping of students. Randomly arranging them in groups of 3 for our problem solving session they seemed resistant at first, but then did a great job of working with one another. By the end of class Carlos, who was paired with Josh and Lulu, told me that he should keep his group forever. "We did great! We're so smart," he stated proudly. Beyond Carlos' triumphant feeling, Saul also found the power in his group. "Iaisha's so smart...she really explains things clearly," he told me. What I started to realize is that our class doesn't really know each other. If Saul hadn't been paired with Iaisha he may never have realized how much of an asset she is to our class. If Carlos hadn't been paired with Lulu he may have never discovered how bright she is and how much she can bring to our learning community. Beyond the two groups mentioned above I watched as Sir and Jordy worked together to complete the problems. I also saw Benito work much more positively in his new found environment (no insults today, or at least none that I heard).
Moral of the story...don't get lazy Mr. Singer...simply grouping kids in different ways can make a huge impact on student learning and the classroom culture. When you feel like saying, "go ahead and work with whoever you'd like..." Don't! You'll thank yourself later.
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