Learn Like a Pirate [Peer Collaboration]!

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!

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