"Can we have partners?" is one of the most common student requests as I send them off to work after a lesson. "Can we be a trio?" is probably the next one. There is a joy in collaboration. There is also an underlying social context and component for all learning. We make meaning together by sharing and listening.
And we do work together a lot in class. We play partner games in Math. We have Read to Another time in Reading. We have Writing Response groups, Science partners, table talk, and time to play and create together. Most students live for this, though there is a strong contingent of kids who say "I'd prefer to work alone right now."
Recently, though. We've been working on independence. And we've unpacked what that means: not being dependent. Not needing others to get assignments done and the ability to create on one's own are life skills that need support, too. In a language rich, socially supportive learning environment there should still be plenty of time and space devoted to fostering self-discipline and pride in accomplishment.
Mostly we've been working on this in writing. We've seen tremendous growth in the responses students are writing in their weekly Reading reflection journals. Each week there is some newly sophisticated use of language or punctuational flare. And I am pushing this in our current work around memoir. We are writing for longer amounts of time and using all of the tools we can think of to keep ourselves going. Some students run into a wall now and then and want to stop but with some guidance and some strategies for staying engaged, they dive back in. It is a slower and less visible process, but for me, watching kids become more independent as writers is as thrilling as that first time they wobble down the sidewalk on two wheels when they learn to ride a bike.
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