Do me a huge favor...

Never start with the phrase, "Let's take a look at your mistakes" when reviewing an assessment to start a small group.  I repeat, never start with a phrase like that.  Who on earth would want to sit in a small group and immediately dive into all they did wrong?

I cringe.

Use the collective knowledge of your students to discover the correct responses, methods, procedures to solving a problem or answering a tough question.

Try this:
"Let's go through each question.  Some you answered correctly or partly correctly, while others were answered incorrectly.  Let's use what we know and have learned as a group to clear up any misconceptions."
-Call on students who answered a question correctly to explain their thinking.  Call on other students who answered partially correctly to explain their thinking.  Start with what THEY know.  Start where THEY are.  Use what THEY know to move them forward in their self-discovery and learning.

Thank you.

Kindergarten Students

I take I35 and 290 to get to work everyday.  The transition from 35 to 290 is relatively easy, it just requires one lane change.  Today, the traffic was surprisingly light.  I made it to work in a record 13 minutes!

Well, I was attempting to switch lanes when I noticed the man I was trying to get in front of (using my turn single and other driving etiquette requirements) was speeding up quickly so that I would not be able to switch lanes.  Well, understanding the actual time implications of being in front of or behind him, I thought nothing of it and just moved in behind him.  Then, a few minutes later, I noticed he did this to another car (who also used his turn single). 

This man was dead set on not letting people in front of him...at all costs.  As I was exiting Berkman Street I realized how much of a kindergartner he was acting like.  I can't tell you how many times I have intervened on 5 and 6 year-old kids pushing and shoving other students around so that they can make it to or stay in the front of the line.

And that made my mind wonder to the countless times I have seen adults in grocery stores "push and shove" their way to the front of lines to check out.  Although, the pushing and shoving has turned into a more manipulative approach (e.g., blocking the way of another who was first, cutting a corner around the merchandise stands, playing dumb, or rushing to the new cashier who says, "I can take the next person in line over here.").  Nevertheless, cutting in line and insisting on being first is a common practice from pre-k to extreme adulthood. 

First, I want to say that, generally speaking (some lines are inordinately long and people do benefit from being one of the firsts), you can save a good minute on cutting in front of someone or making sure that you are at the "front of the line".  In the case of the man driving on the same roads as me this morning, I estimate he saved 5 seconds in his total commute time by not allowing me or the other driver to politely get in front of him.  So, I don't think the function of his behavior is to save time.  I think the function of his behavior is something much deeper than that. 

Or something as simple as what a kindergartner thinks when he or she wants to make sure they are in the front of a line going to recess or lunch.  They really haven't given much thought to how much more time they will get to play at recess or how much more quickly they will receive their lunch by being in front.  All they know is that they want to eat and play and they want to be one of the first to do so.

So, the next time I get frustrated at a kindergartner for cutting or pushing in line, I will think back to this man or the countless adults who frequent grocery stores.  And I will show more patience.