Partnerships: Do The Promises Outweigh The Perils? What Do Sixth-Graders Think?

If this were a blog about what I think, you wouldn’t even have to guess what I’d say about partnerships. You already know. Partnerships are great. They work. They enhance the learning and the thinking and the social development in my classroom. They’re awesome. They rock. I’m the teacher, and I’m supposed to say that.

Yes, you’re right. I strongly believe it’s that intentional attention on the social and emotional development of middle-school students (and any age student for that matter) that allows these students to reach their full academic potential. 

But what do students think about their partner work this year in sixth grade?

REFLECTIONS FROM FOUR SIXTH-GRADE BOYS ON READING AND WRITING PARTNERSHIPS

“Random partnerships have helped me this year by letting me experience other people’s working techniques. I’ve been paired with people I would have never chosen, so I’ve gotten to meet some new people and make new friends. I can get other people’s thoughts about my work and I can have peer-editing time.

“These partnerships will help me in the future for a number of reasons. The first reason is that I won’t be able to work with who I would choose and work with new people. The second is that I am going to have to work as a team sometimes when I get a job. The final reason is that I will have to accept the ways that other people work and realize that I can’t do everything on my own. It’s good to have help.”

—Thomas, age 11 (click here to see actual entry)

“Partnerships have helped me by taking me out of my comfort zone. It has also helped to see different peoples’ ideas and opinions because my friends would probably think the same. Random partnerships can help me to think differently than I would have. Also to look at the text in a different way because of my partner’s way of thinking. I will eventually be able to have anyone as my partner. Some challenges that I have faced are going out of my comfort zone with a partner. Now I don’t really care who my partner is. Another is if I could say some things to my partner. Now I can say anything I think.”

—Logan, age 11 (click here to see actual entry)

“They have helped me a lot. Last year, if I were given the chance, I would have chosen my friends. This year, I’ve been put with people I never knew existed, and that pushed me to start talking more.

“It will help me in the future during things like conferences (talking with the teacher or peers about writing and reading). Usually at conferences everyone talks and expresses their opinion on the topic.

At the beginning of the year, I was shy. I talk to mostly just friends and family. When I got partnered with someone I didn’t know I (at first) didn’t talk much. I gradually got used to it and I now find it easier to talk to people.”

—Nicholas, age 11  (click here to see actual entry)

1. Random partnerships really work on social skills. Working with strangers helps build courage and getting ideas from random partners can make something really special. It’s very hard, but it works the mind and strengthens or even creates friendships.
2. (I’m not sure of Logan’s math—his numbering is out of order, and I didn’t ask why his points are 1, 3, 2. But what I am sure of is that he has a reason for this. J ) One of the challenges of random partnerships is if you get someone you extremely dislike or a polar opposite person, it can end with a verbal fight and someone in tears. Some people have a worker mentality, while others sit back. Most people in random partnerships have one person do more work, even if it’s a 60% to 40% distribution. That’s the biggest challenge.
3. Even with the tough challenges of random partners, it will help in the real world when we all go off to work.  We will have to work with random people, our bosses, co-workers, and more. We need to work with people even to meet our spouses. Interaction between strangers sparked many of history’s greatest ideas, and if we want to progress and step forward into the real world, we will most definitely need random partners.

–Logan C., age 11 (click here to see actual entry)

AUTHOR’S NOTES WRITTEN AFTER OUR NONFICTION PARTNER WRITING STUDY

When things in our teaching lives and in our students’ learning lives seem difficult or even impossible, the first and most important thing we have to do is believe that it is worth our time, that the successes of this work will outweigh the failures, and that students can and will grow from the experience. We have to create an environment of trust where students know we trust them and they in turn trust themselves to do the hard work, the thinking, and the learning expected. As you can see and hear from these sixth-graders, the promises of partnerships outweigh the perils.