Hey Friends~
I’m back again for another summer book study with Amanda from The Primary Gal! I’m so excited!
Chapter 3 was LOOOONNNGGG, but very, very, real & needed coming from a Literacy Coach mind frame!!! PEER COLLABORATION!!! PLEASE & THANK YOU!!! If you want to have successful small group instruction you need to have peer collaboration. So this chapter was very relevant to me & what I want to accomplish on my campus with daily small group reading instruction.
So, Chapter 3 is all about peer collaboration in your classroom. This goes back to “we are a family”! There are so many ways to have students engaging in peer collaboration, but this won’t come until ground rules are in place & students learn to respect each other on various levels.
Takeaways from this chapter:
- Collaboration is the cornerstone of a student-led classroom.
- Foster & maintain a sense of community.
- Which companies perform better? Companies where bosses micro-manage their employees? Or those at which bosses give clear direction, offer consistent support & feedback, & maintain high expectations? You know the answer…
- Provide immediate feedback & support when necessary.
- Everyone has a voice.
- “Give me Five” by you & your students leads to student empowerment.
- Providing ample opportunity for student leadership.
- Students lead when they believe the teacher would appreciate their help, not when the teacher is completely in charge.
- Learning begins in school & continues throughout life.
- Encourage active & passive leadership, both are key.
- Instead of getting upset by a crazy scene, turn it into a teachable moment.
- Teach conflict management strategies.
- Provide spaces that encourage learning.
- Giving students their choice of work space empowers them to make their own decisions & monitor their own behavior.
- Assign partnerships to improve interaction, the old pull a stick system!
- Use responsibility partners to raise the bar!
- Each meeting brings the class closer as a group & improves the students’ self-esteem.
- Our differences help us grow a& change & experience new things.
- Use shared reading to teach empathy.
These things are SO IMPORTANT! You have to start on day 1 & model. Students need to learn to work with all types of personalities at a young age & most importantly how to handle those personalities. This is a life skill for becoming an adult as well. If we don’t create a respectful, ALL student-led environment, your literacy centers will not be successful which leads to unsuccessful small group reading instruction. See in literacy, it’s just as important to teach peer collaboration & model it as it is to prep meaningful literacy centers & guided reading plans. Be the example! Start early! Implement opportunities for everyone equally in many ways! It may end up saving you time & energy in the end because the students will want to do things, want to please their teacher & want to make friends with everyone!
