Students Teaching Students

In one of our L.E.A.P. classes we recently read about and discussed, in our Scholastic News, whether or not students should have homework.  In my (Mr. Hendricks) L.E.A.P. class, we then wrote a short 12323234 paragraph stating which side we take, along with three additional details.  This took a neat turn when we fired up our netbooks.

In my L.E.A.P. class, half the students are from my homeroom, and the others are from various other fifth grade classrooms.  Because of time restraints, I asked my homeroom students to partner up with the other students to lead them through turning on the netbooks, signing into their school Google accounts, checking their emails from me (which included one shared example Doc and one shared template Doc), opening both, copying the template, and giving it a title.

If you did not realize it, above were several steps, which in a small time span, can make class stressful.  That said, my homeroom students taking the lead created a VERY low stress learning environment.  Rather than me running back and forth in my room helping one student and then another, my students did the work.  THEY LOVED IT and did a great job.

By my students taking the lead, we completed what I have experienced to take easily 45 minutes on my own, in 15 minutes.  With the remaining time, our class was able to spend time reviewing and learning how to write a 12323234 paragraph.  Students easily finished and created easy to read paragraphs in just a little over one class period...largely because of my student helpers!

Great job students!