return to freedom

I've had much discussion with various peeps about my 6th graders. This week of no school has given me lots of time to consider my decision to split my lit classes into smaller groups and to create those groups. I've created four groups in each class, each group containing a variety of strong and weak students, boys and girls, chatties and quiets. I tried to part the most cliquish of girls, I decided not to put a bunch of football players together, and I am making these groups temporary. Ideally, as they become acclimated, they will be able to regroup themselves by affinity. By that, I mean they'll be able to choose a group of readings to tackle and that choice will put them into a group.

I don't really know how this will work and it will certainly be more complicated, as the whole class does the same work but on different days and we only have one classroom space to use, but I think it's worth a try. I am attempting to meet them halfway, to allow them to do their beloved group work but choosing their groups and always directing the work itself.

Anyway, back to all that tomorrow.