Chapter X - Post-Project Data - Where Are We Now

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    Chapter X

    Post-Project Data: Where Are We Now?

    Returning to Surveys: Comparing Pre- and Post-Project Responses

    One of the projects main goals was for students to construct an understanding of community around

    their classmates diverse strengths and capacity for support. To gauge the classs growth, we re-

    administered the same survey (Appendix C) that students had taken at the beginning of the project. The

    survey attempted to measure student attitudes towards six principles underlying this type of classroom

    community from both a personal and general perspective. (For more information about the survey

    design, please see Chapter V: Pre-Project Data: Setting a Course for Community.) Using the pre-project

    survey results as a baseline, we were eager to see if students would respond differently.

    To avoid confusion, we made sure to state our rationale for re-administering the survey. We had learned

    a lot about ourselves and our community, we explained, and we were interested to know whether

    students thinking had changed. As before, we stressed that there were no wrong answers; whatever

    they thought was the right answer. Twenty-two students completed the post-project survey, one more

    than had completed the pre-project survey. This student had originally declined to participate in the

    study but then changed his mind halfway through the project.

    In general, students seemed eager to share their ideas, quickly and quietly relocating from the carpet to

    their individual work spots. In fact, my teaching partner and I were impressed by the students level of

    focus. During the pre-project survey, we had given many reminders about completing the survey

    independently. In hushed voices, some students had tried to compare papers, while others had

    unthinkingly read aloud their responses. During the post-project survey, students exercised greater self-

    control. Apart from a couple of redirections, students worked on their own surveys alone, patiently, and

    silently. As I surveyed the room, I wondered if this improvement was connected with our work on the

    skills for learning. Perhaps all of those games to help students listen, focus, and follow directions hadmade a difference after all? Similarly, we hoped that these post-project survey data would show a

    positive change in students attitudes towards their classroom community.

    Principles

    Mirroring my analysis of the pre-project survey, I grouped questions according to the six principles they

    were designed to measure: inclusivity, participation, co-creation, cooperation, agency, and diversity.

    While each principle was addressed by at least one personal question and one general question, some

    principles applied to more than two questions. Searching for evidence of change, we compared the

    students pre-and post-project responses relating to each principle.

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    0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

    Post-Project

    Pre-Project

    Post-Project Pre-Project

    Positive 84% 77%

    Negative 2% 13%

    Not Sure 14% 2%

    No Response 0% 8%

    Figure 15: Pre- and Post-Project Survey Responess to Questions on Agency

    Table 12: Pre- and Post-Project Survey Responses to Questions Grouped by Principle

    The data suggests that students attitudes towards our classroom community improved. On average,

    positive responses increased by 11 percentage points, while negative and uncertain responses both

    decreased by 4 percentage points. The pre-project data highlighted a strong sense of agency among

    students, and this principle remained positively rated. In other words, students continued to believe

    that they could personally help their classmates. The shift in negative and uncertain responses to this

    principle also reflects the trend of improvement in the new data set. On the post-project survey, there

    were fewer negative responses and more uncertain response, as represented in the graph below. This

    change, I suspect, indicates movement towards a more favorable attitude towards agency. As a result of

    our actions, perhaps students who originally disagreed are now simply uncertain whether they could

    help a classmate? If we continued to support students sense of agency, these students might eventually

    respond positively on a follow-up survey.

    Principle

    (Number of Questions)Survey Positive Negative Not Sure No Response

    Inclusivity (8)Pre-Project 67% 8% 21% 4%

    Post-Project 77% 5% 18% 0%

    Participation (4)Pre-Project 62% 9% 23% 6%

    Post-Project 72% 9% 19% 0%

    Co-Creation (2)Pre-Project 67% 7% 24% 2%

    Post-Project 75% 2% 23% 0%

    Cooperation (5)Pre-Project 57% 11% 24% 8%

    Post-Project 70% 13% 17% 0%

    Agency (2)Pre-Project 77% 13% 2% 8%

    Post-Project 84% 2% 14% 0%

    Diversity (6)Pre-Project 53% 13% 33% 1%

    Post-Project 80% 7% 13% 0%

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    0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

    Post-Project

    Pre-Project

    Post-Project Pre-Project

    Positive 70% 57%

    Negative 13% 11%

    Not Sure 17% 24%

    No Response 0% 8%

    Figure 16: Pre- and Post-Project Survey Responses to Questions on

    Cooperation

    In contrast with agency, students showed less support for the principle of the cooperation. Although the

    percentage of positive responses jumped 13 points between surveys, this principle received the lowest

    rating on the post-project survey. (There was even a slight increase in the percentage of negative

    responses.) While students may believe in their ability to help one another, they may feel less sure

    whether they can actually work together. Ultimately, it is not enough for students to feel like they can

    help each other; to enact peer support, they need to develop trusting relationships and effective

    communication skills. Moving forward, I wonder what more I can do to foster positive collaboration and

    set students up for success.

    I was encouraged to see a positive jump in students attitudes towards diversity. In this study, diversity

    refers to students differing strengths and growth areas, as well as how these differences can underpin a

    community based on peer support. The percentage of positive responses to questions addressing

    diversity jumped from 53% on the pre-project survey to 80% on the post-project survey, an increase of

    27 points! The vast majority of students now believe that they have personally unique strengths and

    growth areas. Most students also hold the opinion that a classroom community with diverse strengths is

    more helpful for learning than a class with the same strengths. Students responses, displayed below,

    indicate that they acquired these intended understandings.

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    Table 13: Pre- and Post-Project Survey Responses to Selected Questions Addressing Diversity

    There was still relative uncertainty, however, regarding other classmates growth areas. On the pre-

    project survey, 9 students agreed that everyone in the community had something they could get better

    at, while 11 students expressed uncertainty. On the post-project survey, 13 students agreed while 9

    remained unsure. Looking back, the class spent considerably less time discussing growth areas than

    strengths and every student may not have publicly shared their growth area. Perhaps I could have been

    more intentional in highlighting the growth areas of high-performing students (or teachers, for that

    matter) to communicate that even these community members are working to improve. Looking

    forward, I might dedicate more time to exploring and sharing students growth areas, while maintaining

    the asset-based focus on strengths. In sum, students increasingly affirmative views on their strengths,growth areas, and our diverse classroom community are a sign of success.

    Personal vs. General Interpretations of Community

    To gain a more nuanced understanding of students attitudes, I framed questions addressing the same

    principles from both a personal and general perspective. The first 8 questions asked students about their

    own learning, position, and interactions, while the following 9 questions focused on their classmates

    and the community as a whole.

    Questions Survey Positive Negative Not Sure No Response

    1. I have strengths. There are some

    things that I have learned to do really

    well. (Strengths)

    Pre-Project 12 1 8 0

    Post-Project 20 1 1 0

    2. I have areas for growth. There are

    some things that I am still trying to

    learn. (Growth Areas)

    Pre-Project 12 4 5 0

    Post-Project 17 2 2 1

    7. When a class has students with

    different strengths, its more helpful

    for learning. (Diversity)

    Pre-Project 8 2 11 0

    Post-Project 19 2 1 0

    10. In my class, every student has

    something they can get can better at.(Diversity/Inclusivity)

    Pre-Project 9 0 11 1

    Post-Project 13 0 9 0

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    0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

    Personal

    General

    Personal

    General

    Post-

    Project

    Pre-

    Project

    Post-Project Pre-Project

    Personal General Personal General

    Positive 75% 81% 69% 58%

    Negative 5% 5% 7% 12%

    Not Sure 19% 14% 21% 27%

    No Response 1% 0% 3% 3%

    Figure 17: Pre- and Post-Project Survey Responses to

    Personal and General Sets of Questions

    In the pre-project survey, students responded more positively to questions regarding their own personal

    experience than the community in general. On the post-project survey, this dynamic flipped. Positive

    responses to general questions jumped a staggering 23%, compared with a 6% increase to personal

    questions. In other words, while students continued to feel positively about their own personal

    learning, position, and interactions, they now had an even more positive outlook on their community

    overall.

    On reflection, this finding seems contradictory. How could students feel more positively about our

    community than their experience within it? Do our personal experiences not shape our sense of the

    larger whole? Consider questions 5 and 12, which address the principles of participation and

    cooperation, first from a personal perspective and then from a general perspective. On question 12,

    most students agreed that classmates help each other. On question 5, however, students expressed

    greater uncertainty about whether classmates would help them personally.

    Table 14: Post-Project Survey Responses to Questions 5 and 12

    Question Type Agree Disagree Not SureNo

    Response

    5. If I ask someone for help, that person will

    help me. (Participation/Cooperation) Personal 14 1 7 0

    12. In my class, everyone helps each other.

    (Participation/ Cooperation/Inclusivity)General 19 0 3 0

    There are several possible explanations for this outcome. My main hypothesis is that students

    responses to question 5 were shaped by personal experience, while responses to question 12 were

    shaped by ideals. On the first question, students may have remembered or envisioned a time when a

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    0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

    Girls

    Boys

    Girls

    Boys

    Post-

    Project

    Pre-

    Project

    Post-Project Pre-Project

    Girls Boys Girls Boys

    Positive 80% 70% 82% 56%

    Negative 0% 11% 4% 11%

    Not Sure 19% 19% 12% 29%

    No Response 1% 0% 2% 4%

    Figure 18: Pre- and Post-Project Survey Responses to Personal Questions,

    Separated by Gender

    classmate would not help them. As they expanded their thinking, however, students may have lost sight

    of their own experience and communicated their vision of a more cooperative classroom.

    Another possibility is that students general interpretation of the class was shaped by the principles we

    stressed as teachers and less by their own evaluation. Perhaps students were simply latching on to our

    language in an attempt to select the right answer? A more positive reading of these results might

    distinguish between willingness and ability. Responding to question 5, students may have imagined

    themselves reaching out to people who, despite their best efforts, might not have been able to help

    with a particular task. Taking the class as a whole on question 12, students may have adopted a broader

    definition of helping. They may have thought less about their individual needs and more about the

    classs team mentality. While we do not know the exact reasons for these results, we can be

    encouraged once again by students increasingly positive attitudes towards their classroom

    community.

    Gender

    An unexpected outcome from the pre-project survey data was the difference in boys and girls

    responses, particularly in regard to their personal learning, position, and interactions within the

    community. On the pre-project survey, the girls responses to the personal set of questions were 82%

    positive while the boys responses were only 56% positive. As a result, we resolved to closely follow the

    boys progress, as they explored their strengths and growth areas and engaged in peer support

    interactions. In the post-project survey, the boys positive responses to these personal questions

    increased by 14 percentage points while the girls rate remained the same, resulting in a smaller gap

    between the genders.

    Analyzing the pre-project survey data, we speculated about the boys higher percentage of Not Sure

    responses. If they were able to exercise all of the skills necessary to complete this survey, then their

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    Table 16: Girls Pre- and Post-Project Survey Responses to Question 5

    Question 5. If I ask someone for help, that person will help me.

    (Participation/Inclusivity)

    Survey Positive Negative Not Sure No Response

    Pre-Project 10 0 1 0Post-Project 6 0 5 0

    A rare example of negative change, these results suggest that girls have growing doubts about their

    relationships within our community. What happened here? Why did four girls change their minds? In

    answering this question, these four girls may have considered various classmates and concluded they

    were either unwilling or unable to help them. If so, I wonder who these classmates might be. To answer

    these questions, I need to gather more information by chatting with these girls. If I can figure out the

    reasons for their uncertainty, then I can adapt my approach in the aim of improving these girls

    personal experience. Ultimately, I hope to strengthen student relationships so that everyone believes

    their peers can and will help them.

    Turning to students interpretations of the community in general, the girls pre-project survey responses

    were also more positive than the boys. On these nine questions, the girls responses were 61% positive

    while the boys responses were 54% positive. This less striking difference became even more so on the

    post-project data. Mirroring the overall improvement in students attitudes towards the community, the

    girls and boys percentage of positive responses increased to similar levels. On the post-project survey,

    the boys positive responses actually jumped 3 percentage points ahead of the girls. These slighter

    differences in boys and girls responses to general questions indicate that gender became a less

    significant factor in students interpretations of the community as a whole. I wonder why the boys

    attitude towards our community changed so dramatically. Had our activities and language around

    community building made the difference? Did our explicit focus on peer support give them a greater,

    more positive sense of our community?

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    0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

    Girls

    Boys

    Girls

    Boys

    Post-

    Project

    Pre-

    Project

    Post-Project Pre-Project

    Girls Boys Girls Boys

    Positive 79% 82% 61% 54%

    Negative 4% 7% 9% 14%

    Not Sure 17% 11% 28% 27%

    No Response 0% 0% 2% 5%

    Figure 19: Pre- and Post-Project Survey Responses to

    General Questions, Separated by Gender

    Room for Growth

    While the overarching narrative of our survey data is one of positive change, some students continue to

    feel negatively or uncertain about our classroom community. It is vital that we recognize their attitudes.

    Combing through the post-project survey data, I found five studentsthree girls and two boyswho

    registered at least five not sure responses. What, I wonder, is the cause of their uncertainty about our

    classroom community? And how can we cultivate a community that everyone regards positively? As Ireflect on the experiences of these five students, who shall remain nameless, I see five very different

    children. Consequently, one student may have felt unsure about our communitys degree of

    cooperation, for instance, for a completely different reason than another student. As teachers, we must

    seek to understand the differing minds of our students, and so I must try to understand more deeply

    how these five individuals view our community. While I wish I had been able to identify these students

    earlier, it was only through my analysis of the post-project survey data that they stood out. Student

    attitudes are always shifting, after all, and the work of engaging all students in community building is

    an ongoing challenge. As I continue working with these five students, I can pay special attention to

    their experience in our community and provide personalized opportunities for positive interactions

    with their classmates.

    Post-Project Interviews

    To participate fully in a community of helpers, students needed to develop a strong sense of their

    strengths and growth areas. As they engaged in peer support interactions, they would also need working

    understanding of strategies for learning, helping, and reaching out to their classmates. While the survey

    data provided a class-wide snapshot of students attitudes, I hoped to gain deeper insights into students

    individual experiences through one-to-one interviews.

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    The Sharer: Emma

    (Pre-/Post-Project)

    Detail Points: 12/11

    Complexity Points: 6/1

    In my view, student U is as an enthusiastic sharer. During our pre-project interview, I was

    impressed by her elaborate, thoughtful comments, which earned high scores for both detail and

    complexity. Allaying my concerns about her spoken language, she eloquently described her

    learning process, shared some strategies for helping others, and identified classmates who she

    might reach out to for support. After this interview, I was confident that Emma would model

    positive peer support interactions and communicate her success with others.

    Compared with the pre-project interview, Emmas post-project responses were not as detailed

    or complex. While I could clearly understand her thinking on the pre-project survey, her post-

    project responses seemed fuzzier, in part due to her fragmented speech habits. During the pre-

    project survey, for instance, she offered a simple timeline for how she developed her strength in

    hula-hooping: When I first tried it, I had one when I was four, when I lived in another house. I

    first tried it, and I didnt do it so well. Then, I tried it the second time, and I did well. During the

    post-project interview, however, her explanation of how she improved at coloring is harder to

    follow: First, I use the book, a coloring book. And it was about ponies, and there was a tracing,

    where you could trace. And I used it. And I traced the hair, and I traced the tail. And then I did it

    on the paper, something different. And I tried a rainbow, and I colored in all the spaces. I had a

    blank paperI didnt just do a rainbow. I did a rainbow and a sky and stuff. Although Emmas

    second response to this question is a little confusing, she does attempt to provide more details

    about her learning. I observed this ambitiousness in several other post-project responses, some

    of which include hypothetical scenarios with dialogue. In retrospect, I wonder if she had new

    insights to share but simply could not find the language to express them.

    Like our connectors, Stephan and Sabrina, Emma struggled to recall instances of peer support

    within the classroom. When asked if her classmates had asked her for help in her strength,

    coloring, she replied, No, theyre really good. (I myself beg to differ!) WhileEmma named a

    couple of students who might be able to support her in her growth area, she also could not recall

    a time when she had reached out to others, much like Sabrina. Although Emma may have a

    sound understanding of her strengths, growth areas, and strategies for helping others, her

    responses are further evidence that a culture of peer support has yet to take root in ourcommunity.

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    The Outliers: PJ and Gemma

    PJ (Pre-/Post-Project Gemma (Pre-/Post-Project)

    - Detail Points: 7/11 - Detail Points: 10/12

    - Complexity Points: 0/0 - Complexity Points: 1/1

    As we began the pre-project interviews, I identified PJ and Gemma as outlier in our classroom

    community. Although PJ is by no means isolated, he is often reluctant to engage in conversation

    and does not seem to have developed many close friendships. Gemma also struggles to connect

    with her peers, though she relishes conversation. An imaginative child, she can get carried away by

    her ideas, so much so that she loses the thread of conversation and awareness of her peers. During

    the pre-project interviews, I struggled to connect with these students, and their responses

    displayed a limited understanding of their strengths, growth areas, and possibilities for peersupport. By the end of the project, I hoped to see these students with a greater awareness of

    themselves and more deeply integrated in our community of helpers.

    Although the point tallies for detail and complexity do not indicate a dramatic transformation, PJ

    and Gemmas post-project responses reflected growth in several key areas. In contrast with the

    pre-project survey, Student articulated multiple learning strategies and asserted that he could

    teach his strength to others. In particular, he highlighted how his dad had coached him in

    basketball and could help him get better at football. In discussing her growth area, the ability to

    jump rope fast, Gemma also mentioned that she could ask someone to help her. Moving beyond

    the strategy of practice, PJ and Gemma both recognized the value of helpers during their post-

    project interview. When I asked which classmates might be able to offer them support, I was met

    with the same uncertain expressions that I had seen during the pre-project interview. With minimal

    prompting, however, they soon arrived at the answer Id been hoping for: they could check the

    strengths chart!

    PJs and Gemmas responses suggest that they more deeply understand the learning process and

    the value of peer support. Continuing a troubling trend, however, PJ and Gemma could not recall

    any interactions where they had supported others or reached out for support. Like Emma, PJ

    expressed that others could already perform his strength, implying that they did not need his help.

    And although PJ could not have helped her classmates with the strength she chose to talk about

    (swimming), she had not reached out to anyone on the playground for support with jump roping

    fast. PJ and Gemmas growth suggest that they are better prepared to participate in a community

    of helpers. Without opportunities to apply their new knowledge and practice peer support,however, the may remain as outliers in our community.

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    Themes

    During the pre-project interviews, I identified three major themes that emerged from students

    responses. Discussing their strengths and growth areas, all students emphasized how practicehad

    helped them to improve. Rarely did students allude to other learning strategies. In regard to peer

    support, students demonstratedroom for growth in their understanding ofhow to help others. Asstudents considered their own needs, there was also room for growth in their awareness of potential

    supporters. After leading lessons about learning strategies, helping strategies, and the peer support

    system in our classroom, we hoped to see positive changes in these areas.

    While most students re-emphasized the value of practice in the post-project interview, some indicated

    different learning strategies, thought they didnt label them explicitly. Reflecting on their strengths, PJ

    recounted how his dad helped him get better at basketball, while Sabrina identified various reading

    strategies, which might be considered a mental resource. As they speculated about how to improve in

    their growth areas, students highlighted the importance of a more knowledgeable other as well as

    practice. While PJ again identified his Dad as his teacher, Students F and K implied that they might join

    larger learning communities, such as a boxing class and a soccer team. Reflecting on these responses, I

    wondered if these students were beginning to grasp the social nature of learning.

    Comparing students pre- and post-project responses to these questions, students now describe their

    strengths and growth areas in greater detail. While I did not expect this three-month project to

    completely transform my students thinking, I am pleased to observe growth in a positive direction.

    Figure 20: Post-Project Interview Responses to Question 7:

    How do you think you might get better at (your growth area)?

    Student F: Well, Im going in a boxing class thisyear and I might be doing it in the summer, so that

    might be my way of doing boxing.

    PJ: Practicing and playing with my dad. Catching the ball.

    Sabrina: Learning more tricks because my sister used to be on a team. (And were those tricks, did

    they help her because she was on the team?) Yeah. (Does your sister know how to do

    tricks?) Yes. (What kind of tricks can she do?) Like, bouncing the ball on her knee. (So youmight practice tricks? Any other ways you might get better?) Going on a team practicing.

    (How do you think being on a team would help you get better?) Because the coaches help

    us learn how to do more tricks and stuff. (Hmm, sounds like it could be helpful to have some

    coaches, people to help you get better.)

    Gemma: I have a jump rope at homeits a Hello Kitty one. (How do you think you might get better

    at jump roping fast?) By getting someone to teach me. (Anything else?) No.

    Emma: Like, if there was a word that was hard. Like, if you were in kindergarten, and you were

    having trouble, you had a book that had exploration in it, it would be hard for them.

    (Yeah, and how would they get better at reading that word?) They would try to find it out,

    like, explor-ation.

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    Did students knowledge of helping strategies grow in a similar measure? When asked how they would

    teach their strength to others, most pre-project responses were brief and vague. Returning to this

    question during the post-project interview, students responded with much greater detail.

    In contrast with the pre-project round of interviews, students described many more strategies for

    helping. In fact, in one way or another, students referred to all four helping strategies that we had

    explored as a class: ask questions, show how to do a little bit, use resources (materials and your smart

    brain), and celebrate and use encouraging words. Through practice drills, Stephan and PJ implied thatthey would show other students how to master particular skills, while Sabrina stated that she would

    demonstrate reading difficult words. Responding to the same question, Emma modelled the strategy of

    asking questions by imagining a dialogic exchange with a peer. Lastly, Gemma incorporated the strategy

    of using resources, naming physical supports to scaffold the learning of her prospective swimming

    students. As for our fourth helping strategy, celebrating and using encouraging words, no student

    offered the later. Gemmas vision of an underwater dance party, however, is certainly a memorable way

    to celebrate!

    Figure 21: Post-Project Interview Responses to Question 3:Can you teach (your strength) to others? If so, how do you teach it to others?

    Stephan: Yes. (How do you do that?) By teaching them the basics. (What are the basics?) Mostly running

    and shooting and shooting from close-up and possibly shooting from the backboard and making it

    go in. (So a couple of different ways to shoot.)

    PJ: Yes. (How can you help others get better at basketball?) By making them keep practicing and shooting

    the ball and dribbling. (What might you tell them to help them get better?) Not sure.

    Sabrina: Sometimes. (How can you sometimes teach it to others?) Because, like, my cousin, she likes

    reading, like, really hard books, and sometimes I cant read those books. (Ah, so, sometimes its

    hard for her to teach you. Is that what you mean?) No, like, when she wants me to read her a book,

    and she likes hard books, with a lot of pictures though, she wants me to read it to her, but its too

    hard for me. (Got it. So youre still trying to get better at reading. Can you teach reading to others?)

    Yes. (How would you teach it to others?) Show them some words that they dont know that I know.

    (And what would you say them?) Use skippy frog. Use the strategies.

    Gemma: By getting my own class, in case someone doesnt want their swimming class anymore, I could

    take it. (If you were to run swimming lessons, how would you teach other kids to swim?) First, I

    would tell them to go on a chair. (What next?) Then, I would teach them to use a floatie, you know,

    like those little rafts. And then Im going to teach them how to use a noodle. Then, Im going to

    teach them how to breathe in water, and then Im going to teach them how to use a snorkel. And

    dance underwater! Theres even going to be water dresses. Waterproof!

    Emma: Yep. (How would you help others with coloring?) Like, lets say, if Gemma needed help coloring, and

    it was hard to color, lets say, a rainbow. She would look on the strengths chart and see who is good

    at coloring. Then, lets say the first one that she saw is me, and she wants me. And she said, I needhelp with coloring. And then I say, What things do you need help with? And then she would say,

    Drawing a rainbow. And then, its like a rainbow in the sky light, or a rainbow just colored dark.

    (And then what would you say next to her?) I would say, What parts do you need help with? Lets

    say, if she had problems tracing . . . (So you could help her get that part right.) Yeah.

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    With a greater knowledge of helping strategies, students were better prepared to support their peers.

    Few instances of peer support would take place, however, unless kids actually reached out for help. Did

    students know who might be able to help them in their growth areas? During the pre-project interviews,

    two students identified the same classmate as a potential supporter, another threw out names

    haphazardly, and the final two students could not name anyone. We looked for evidence of change by

    re-asking students if any classmates had helped them with their growth area. Disappointingly, only

    Stephan could recall a peer support interaction, and the person who helped him was not a member of

    our class. When asked if they could think of anyone who might be able to help them, most students

    were unsure. Although Emma immediately named two classmates, other students failed to think of

    any potential supporters. With prompting, three students remembered that the strengths chart could

    help them identify competent helpers. That said, this tool was not at the forefront of their minds,

    which leads me to doubt whether students are using it regularly.

    A Note About Diversity

    During a lesson on diversity, my teaching partner and I had promoted the idea that a class with many

    different strengths is more helpful than a class with the same strengths. At the end of this lesson, my

    brief check for understanding had left me wanting to know more about students individual thinking. To

    determine how students had interpreted and internalized this lesson, I added a question to the post-

    project interview: Whats more helpful for learning to have a class with different strengths or a class

    with the same strength? Since this question was not on the pre-project interview, I did not evaluate

    responses for detail and complexity; adding points for this question would have misleadingly increased

    their post-project tallies.

    We found that four out of five students remembered the value of a class with diverse strengths, and

    three out of four could offer detailed, complex responses to explain their thinking. In their responses,

    Stephan, Sabrina, and Emma communicated the social nature of learning by highlighting how classmates

    could teach one another. Stephan noted how people can learn different things by going to differentpeople while Sabrina and Emma gave examples of classmates teaching their strengths to others. Each

    of these students further justified their thinking by stressing the disadvantages of a class with the same

    strengths. If all the people in our class have a strength in reading, explained Sabrina, and they want

    to learn basketball, then we cant ask anybody to teach us basketball because we all have the same

    strengths. I was encouraged to discover the depth to which these three students had understood this

    key value of our community. At the same time, I was left wondering exactly why our Students I and N,

    the outliers among our focus students, had not fully grasped this principle regarding diversity.

    In Summary

    Similar to our class wide survey data, students interview responses reflect a modest but positive growthin students attitudes towards their own learning and our community of helpers. Our efforts appear to

    have substantially influenced some students, while others remain on the fringes of our community.The

    evidence suggests that students deepened their understanding of their personal strengths, growth

    areas, and peer support strategies. At the same time, it sheds doubt on whether students are putting

    this new knowledge into practice.