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Lydia Sheldon

01 March 2013

EDUC 515

Penn Mentor: Sandi Richards

Fieldwork Notebook Entry 5Peer 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 theirown 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 greatsense. 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 newthat 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.

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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 bedistracted, although she didparticipate 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 grouphave 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 thisisnt 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 questionssuch 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 learningenvironment 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

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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 thenyou 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 orin 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.