I was under the impression that the teacher picked the partners hmm.. I wonder if I heard that right. The reason I was told about the whole year partnership is that sharing your writing is about trust and it takes time to develop that trust so that the partnership is having deep, meaningful conversations and can reference back to past work that each other have done. When they switch every month/ grading period it is thought that it makes it more difficult to get to the deeper conversations and that the work will always be on the surface. Kathleen
-----Original Message----- From: mosaic-bounces+kamills=seattleschools....@literacyworkshop.org [mailto:mosaic-bounces+kamills=seattleschools....@literacyworkshop.org] On Behalf Of wr...@att.net Sent: Thursday, September 03, 2009 7:11 AM To: Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies EmailGroup Subject: [MOSAIC] workshop Yesterday the grade 3-8 teachers in my district met together to have training on workshop. Our trainer said that partners for turn and talk should be kept the same all year. The trainer also said that students should pick their only partners. I'd like to move partners around (maybe as often as every six weeks) as I see that certain students could help each other learn more. I also want to pick the partners because there are always some students who want to work together, but they just goof off. Letting students choose their partner, and then breaking up that partner group a week later, will create lots of uproar. It's smoother for me to just match the partners from the beginning. So... do I really have to let the students pick their partners? If so, why? Do I need to keep the same pairs all year? If so, why? Jan _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.