With a student presenting it, you feel more of a connection With teachers, they are there but with a student it’s more of a peer to peer. And you have a stronger connection when its someone your own age talking about it.
Here are just a few ways to build connections among students:
- by encouraging peer support and collaboration and structuring it into our classroom and school wide activities through co-operative activities and teamwork;
- by monitoring and observing the power dynamics in students’ peer groups, intervening when necessary, and ensuring the ongoing and accessible presence of adult support;
- by setting ground rules, together with students, as parameters for respectful interactions and collective work in any group context;
- by facilitating the mobilization of students from marginalized groups with concrete support and encouraging expressions of their collective identity.
It can shift things to organize students into multi-age groupings. Mixing up the grades can dilute the social dynamics. It helps to build community and let students meet new people. Students from different age groups can learn from each other. It blurs the lines–students from the younger grade levels have stuff to share with older students.