It costs you nothing to err on the side of care.
Lindy West
Not long ago, I noticed my son was uncharacteristically quiet. After some prodding, waiting, and long silences, he finally opened up. There was a big project due in science, he said, “and I don’t have a group.”
“What do you mean by ‘I don’t have a group’?”
“I was supposed to be in a group with Angelo, but he dropped me and went to be in a group with Gavin and Kento.”
“Can you join them? In their group?”
“No,” he said. There were restrictions. “The teacher said it had to be just two or three people in a group, no more. We can work alone, but we aren’t allowed to work on it at home, so working alone kind of stinks. And yesterday was the only day we could change groups.”
“Is there another group you can join?”
“No,” he said. All the groups were set. It was over and done: he had to work alone, and he had to pretend to like it.
For a parent, there isn’t much that is more upsetting than hearing your child has been dropped, abandoned, and left alone.
“Can you go to the teacher and point out that you’d like a partner but you don’t have one?”
“Mom.” My son shook his head. “He isn’t the kind of teacher who cares.”
My heart sank, but I knew he was right. I knew this teacher, and he wouldn’t care.
I understand the value of group work, and I understand the value in having students find groups, navigate the social minefield of peer relationships, and figure out how they work best and what learning environments work for them. What I don’t understand is not caring how it feels to be a kid doing those things.
Younger students tend to work well in many group situations, because they don’t let social complications weird it all up for them. A container of color-coded Popsicle sticks work quite nicely, thank you very much. As students get older, though, having them pick their own groups can cause anxiety and stress to the point where finding a group becomes more of a stressor than the actual learning or the task assigned. We can’t assume the students are easily, breezily navigating the complications of finding and integrating into their own groups.
Just because kids get older and taller and have deeper voices doesn’t mean they have this all figured out. They still need our help, and, above all, they need to know their teacher is the kind of teacher who cares.
This week we share ideas for strategic small groups. Plus more as always—enjoy!
Contributor, Choice Literacy
Jen Schwanke is a principal for the Dublin City School District in Dublin, Ohio. A graduate instructor in educational leadership, she has written frequently for literacy and educational leadership publications and blogs about her experiences in learning and leading at jenschwanke.com. Follow Jen on Twitter @Jenschwanke. Her book You’re the Principal! Now What? is available through ASCD.
Heather Fisher explains how viewing excerpts from the same video multiple times can help students in book clubs hone their conversation and reflection skills.
Tara Barnett and Kate Mills describe how they help teachers move from guided reading to strategy groups in the upper elementary grades.
Betsy Hubbard shares a protocol for moving young writers from conferences to student-led groups.
We are now offering a virtual field experience through the over 900 classroom videos from grades K-8 on the site, featuring top teachers from around the country. We’ve developed this $49 option as an alternative to a traditional fieldwork experience, and it includes a three-month Classic Classroom membership.You can read more about it and register here.
New members-only content is added each week to the Choice Literacy website. If you’re not yet a member, click here to explore membership options.
Tammy Mulligan listens to students and adapts her small-group instruction as they share how they learn.
Shari Frost finds that the issues students may be dealing with in some children’s books can be overwhelming. She shares some of her favorite books for grappling with one troubling topic at a time.
In this week’s video, Cheryl Miller meets with a fourth-grade guided reading group for the first time in September. She begins the lesson by previewing the book and reminding students of the skills they are working on.
In an encore video, Dana Murphy meets with a group of fifth graders to help students develop paragraphing skills, using a peer’s mentor text.
An essential role for leaders is raising up more literacy leaders among the talented teachers on staff. Matt Renwick considers how anyone without a title or an obvious source of power can lead, and what that means for nurturing leadership skills.
Clare Landrigan leads a demonstration small group on including details in writing. The demonstration includes a prebrief and debrief with the teacher.
The challenges we face today are almost nothing compared with the impossible odds Ernest Shackleton’s Antarctic crew survived for weeks after their ship was trapped in ice and eventually sank in 1914. Lessons from his leadership on “coaching yourself” can still inspire and instruct us today.
Quote It:
Find a group of people who challenge and inspire you, spend a lot of time with them, and it will change your life forever.
Amy Poehler
That’s all for this week!
