Lydia Sheldon 01 March 2013 EDUC 515 Penn Mentor: Sandi Richards Fieldwork Notebook Entry 5 Peer Pressure

in Literature Circle Work Im not sure if my literature circles are working as effectively as I had hoped. Yesterday, I had two separate conversations with students that got me thinking about the power of peer pressure in academic work. Ill address Yasmeens conversation here. (*Note: The other conversation was with Liam, who had an outburst with Dr. Marshall in response to her demand that he take an assignment seriously. That was an individual assignment, and I wonder if I can compare Liams work individually with the work he does in his group with Simran and Aminah, who I suspect he wouldnt mind impressing. But thats a topic for another reflection!). In my previous discussion of these literature circles, Sandi, you commented: They encourage the students not only to identify and lift up their own positive qualities, but also to hold one another accountable for productive sessions in their circles. One explicit goal I had for these groups was that my students would do just that: hold each other accountable for productivity. In that reflection, I expressed concern that Ethan is bearing the burden of work in his literature circle. When I designed the circles, I anticipated that students collaboration on the assignments could result in uneven workloads. I knew there were pedagogical methods for groupwork, like Weinsteins (2003) chapter that describes the freeloader phenomenon (241). I wasnt sure if my methods of designing the circles would line up with Weinstein, but I wanted to avoid arranging the groups by ability level. I intentionally placed at least two students who had track records of hard work in the class in each group. I knew that those students wouldnt be satisfied with a poor group grade for work they did in their literature circle. This rationale makes great sense. It seems you were hoping to simultaneously cross-pollinate with diverse capabilities and motivate the stronger students to dig in and produce quality work. Perhaps the drawback with this approach is that the weaker, less verbally confident, possibly competitive students will remain passive and silent in the presence of their peers. Early this week, I led the students in group analyses and presentations of picture books about the Holocaust. I gave each group a sophisticated, engaging picture book. I asked each group to read the book out loud to each other. I left it up to them to decide how they would share the reading. I asked them to take notes on the book in preparation for a book talk they would give to the whole class. I let them know I would be collecting their notes. I showed them a slide on my Power Point presentation that listed what Id be looking for in their analysis notes: characters, plot, historical context, illustrations, something new that they learned. I wanted to structure the note-taking assignment enough to indicate that I was taking it seriously. In 8A, Yasmeen and Ramzys group were assigned The Cats of Krasinski Square, by Karen Hesse, a fascinating picture book about the Warsaw Ghetto. When I designed that group, I knew that Yasmeen and Ramzy are students who strive for As. They engage thoughtfully and enthusiastically in reading, class discussion and projects. Tamir is a student who has an IEP for being mentally gifted, but who expresses boredom with almost everything we do, and typically does the bare minimum on assignments.

Christian and Nazir are students whose performance and engagement need improvement. I hoped that Yasmeen and Ramzy would lead the group in the assignment, and that Tamir would be interested in spite of himself. I thought that Christian and Nazir would work to keep up with them. Instead, this group was very reluctant to do the assignment. I sat with them and tried to support their reading and discussion, and I was disappointed with their effort. As I had expected, Ramzy was enthusiastic, but even Yasmeen seemed inclined to be distracted, although she did participate and do the work. When the groups handed in their notes, I assessed the thoroughness of their analysis and the groups participation in the activity and book talk. I thought about it, and assigned Yasmeens group a 3 for each category. I knew this would rankle, but I wanted to show them that their group work was being assessed. Yesterday, Yasmeen approached me before homeroom. She had seen her groups grade in the online grade book. She asked, Miss Sheldon, why does our group have a 60 for the picture book assignment? It was a challenge. I was nervous! I told myself to stand my ground. I explained to her that I knew she had participated, but that it was a group grade. I asked her if she remembered that day. She knew what I was referring to before I spelled it out, but I did describe briefly what I had observed in her group. She nodded her agreement. I told her, Yasmeen, I know this isnt fair, but I want you to put the pressure on the other students in your group. You all knew this was going to be a group grade. She nodded, silent. I couldnt tell if she was angry at me or if she understood and accepted my point. Suddenly, I worried that I was totally wrong about this whole group grade idea. For a split second, I imagined just reneging on the whole thing and giving Yasmeen an A. Little did she know how much power she had over me in that moment! I encouraged her to communicate that desire to do well to the other students in her group. She was polite, but seemed upset. Did I do right? Since you set this activity up as a group effort and collective grade, I think you were right to stay the course with Yasmeen. As hard as it was in the moment, remember that she will tuck away a valuable lesson in this experience. One small strategy I liked to use on group projects was to give a simple feedback sheet to each student after work was completed with questions such as, What work were you responsible for in the group? Do you think the work was evenly divided among group members? What did you learn from this collaboration that will help you next time? In addition to gaining a insight as to how the group functioned, I think asking for written feedback can invite the students to absorb expectations more organically than front-loading the activity with a laundry list of expectations and ground rules. In my previous reflection, you also encouraged me to think about structured ground rules for their discussions in their literature circles. I think setting up some clear, even written, expectations for individual participation within the literature circles would help with this problem, as well. But do I run the danger of scaffolding too much? Learning how to toggle between comprehensive scaffolding and individual choice is both challenging and essential, especially when students need ongoing accommodations. Creating a learning environment that is not too structured and possibly smothering (which many kids need) or too free-wheeling and fluid (which most kids want) is a tricky balance to strike. My recommendation is to try a variety of approaches, gather some immediate feedback from the students, and then plan accordingly. I think I have a tendency to micromanage my students work, and I want them to grow independently and take ownership of their work in class. In the case of Yasmeens group, will that 60 be effective in future group work? Should I let students know every time I am grading their group as a whole? Do I do a real

injustice to Ramzy and Yasmeen by holding them accountable for the decisions of other students? Maybe I could have avoided this problem if each student had had an assigned role. Now that Ive gone back to read Weinsteins chapter on groupwork, I resonate with her point that its not enough to just assign groups and groupwork. I have to carefully design the work that students will do in those groups, as well. Since your literature circles are still relatively new, I think its appropriate to err on the side of prescription, and then you can gradually offer more choice and independence to the students as their groups gain coherence, familiarity, and trust (we hope!). And now, my typical question: how does this fit into my inquiry? I think it demonstrates my work at getting to know my students individually, and how Im using that knowledge as I design my instruction. For this reflection, I admit that I was more concerned with my immediate practice that with my inquiry when I talked to Yasmeen. When I thought about it later, though, I thought it was an example of the intricacies of these literature circles, highlighting a challenge Ive run into. But perhaps its too off-base? It seems to me that your interest in having your students know themselves as learners and how they express themselves in a literacy classroom setting (verbally, visually, in writing) fits in perfectly with the Yasmeen incident. My suggestion is to interview her - in person or in writing, whichever you think is more comfortable for her - after your next literature circle activity (one that also receives a group grade) and see if she will share her thoughts about this process and her self-perception as a learner. *Note: What tangible artifacts would be helpful for this discussion? I have the notes that the group took (but havent scanned them yet), although I dont know that they would be that revealing. Should I revisit Yasmeen and the others self-assessment at the beginning of their work in literature circles? Yes! You can compare the earlier assessments with new ones (see my response above). Work Cited: Weinstein, Carol Simon. Managing groupwork. Middle and secondary classroom management. McGraw Hill, 2003.