“You Can Go Rest!”

April Franzen
Kindergarten Teacher, Jefferson Elementary School, Grand Island, Nebraska

“Ummm, Mrs. Franzen, we got this! You can go rest.,” said my Kindergarten Rhombus Team during writing. What? Seriously? This is what I experienced when students knew their individual roles for their team and had all the tools (Target, Success Criteria, and Purposeful Task) they needed. Should it make me feel sad that they didn’t need me? Absolutely Not! This is the power of student teaming and learning. Student teaming has empowered my students with confidence, perseverance, independence, community, and empathy. Working in teams has made a huge impact on each individual’s learning. They have learned from each other, learned to compromise, treat each other with respect, and confidence in themselves.