Re: When kids can move around

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This might be a late response...

I expect students to ask if they can work with a partner. If
the assignment is something that can be finished in class, I
let students work with a partner (two person limit).

Other times, I let students know that they are on their own
that day.

For the times that students can work with a partner, I give
them parameters. Here are some examples:
-work with someone immediately next to you
-or, students can only work with someone on their side of the room
-sit side by side
-give students stickers when they come in, and have them match
and partner up that way.

Partner/Group Non-negotiables:
-I ask students to give me 10 or 15 minutes of "on your own"
work, after that time, they can go with a partner. If they are
not working on their own, they don't have the privilege of
partner. This ensures that some work gets done.
-Both students need to be working. If they are talking, or only
one is doing the work, the group splits up and each goes back
to their seat, no arguing or whining allowed. They can retry
working in groups another day.

I don't drag the last one out, I tell the students at the
beginning of class what the group norms are. That is their
warning. If they are not working, they are splitting up.

Side note, I have found that this year, a lot of students
prefer to work on their own.

On 10/08/11, Daniel Hanson wrote:
> Hello, everyone!
>
> I feel embarrassed admitting this, but several
> years of teacher, I still don¡¦t know when I should be
> letting students move around and when not to. I teach high
> school Spanish and my class does a lot of written work with
> the textbook. So, some students want to move around to work
> with others (their friends and buddies, sometimes their
> very close friends ļ). Some do it for the social element
> mainly. I remember in high school and I subbed in
> classrooms where teachers were okay with students moving
> around (like in math classes) and sitting with classmates
> to work on stuff. On the one hand, I can see how students
> like moving around because they want to socialize while
> they work. However, some students aren¡¦t mature enough to
> work while they socialize and just end up socialize and
> sometimes getting rowdy. These same individuals usually
> take longer to finish and are usually waiting for their
> classmates to finish the work so they can copy. Should I
> just flat out tell them they can¡¦t move around during the
> class period? Do I just deny moving privileges from certain
> students, causing some to complain that that¡¦s not far that
> some students get to move around and they don¡¦t?
>
> I seriously cannot make up my mind on what my stance should
> be. Right now, I feel like some students feel like they
> have control over where they can sit in class during class
> work when ultimately, I should be the one with the last say
> as to where people can and cannot sit during class.
> (Obviously, I will have to give out detentions for students
> talking across the classroom because they can¡¦t go sit by
> their buddies.)
>
> Please share your thoughts.
>
> Confused,
> Daniel Hanson
> Public High School Spanish Teacher
> Atwater, California, USA

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