When asked about where the idea of not 'giving' answers but helping people 'think' about their answers Calvin, a grade seven student this year, felt he acquired the idea from Curtis, a grade seven last year when Calvin was a grade six student.  Also, when asked about where he thought he might use the strategy in the future, Calvin said he felt it might help him with 'his kids'.  This was interesting for me, it confirmed what I thought was happening in the room.  The students in grade six learn from the students in grade seven 'ways of being' with each other.  And then they pass those dispositions on to next year's grade sixes.  Calvin talks about being helped by Curtis, and about helping Kevin...and about maybe helping his kids, who might then help their friends...

Also interesting for me, in relation to what I see in my accounts through my students, was a discussion I had with students who used to be in my class and have now moved on to high school.  I invited them to come to talk to me about what they understood now about what we did before and whether or not any of what we did together made a difference in how they are now.

Five students came to chat: Curtis (Grade Eight Regular Program), Lisa (Grade Nine Enriched Humanities), Carmen (Grade Nine Enriched Humanities), Wendy (Grade Nine Regular Program) and April (Grade Nine Enriched Academics).  Without hesitation all five agreed resoundingly - they miss being able to talk about their learning with their peers during class time as part of their way of moving towards understanding.

Curtis wanted to be able to 'talk' about his learning, to 'share' his ideas, to 'expand' his understanding through meaningful conversations more often.  He appreciates every opportunity he is given to be able to do this and he misses that most of all from grade six and seven.

Lisa talked about the value of 'having' to learn to work with everyone in grade six and seven.  She said it helped her to be able to meet people in high school because she had skills at beginning conversations with people she didn't know.  Looking around at other students struggling to make conversation made her understand the value of that lesson learned in Division 15.

Carmen talked about learning how to see other perspectives and then being able to accept,  or integrate, their answers into her understanding as a skill she acquired in my class, in grade six and seven.  She feels by doing this she expands her understanding and at times can be inspired by others ideas.

Wendy talked about having to leave questions unanswered until after class when she could talk with her friends.  She learned in grade seven that she learns best through conversation - so she makes time to talk about her homework with friends to ensure her understanding.

April talked about learning how to 'beat' her shyness in grade seven in Division 15.  She spoke specifically about a conversation where an image she drew was misunderstood by her discussion group because she would not explain her thinking - she thought she was 'wrong'.  April did not like being misunderstood, so she chose to speak up.  She realized through this experience that prior to grade seven she did not participate in class conversations because she thought she did not have the 'right' answer.  What she figured out in my class was that there often was no 'right' answer, but that a well supported, thoughtful answer was always 'right'.  April beamed when she explained this to the group.

In closing Lisa said that having me as her teacher helped her to understand that teachers were 'human', she pointed out how I tended to 'forget things' sometimes and would accept her help to 'remember'.  To which April added, 'To me it was more important that MJ was as much a student as a teacher, and that I was her teacher as well as her student.'  All six of our heads nodded and we knew we had hit the mark.  It was wonderful to sit in my class with five high school students discussing how learning situations that had transpired had helped them and continued to help them.  They were articulate, focused and thoughtful - just like I remembered them.  They wanted to talk about learning, about how they learn best, about how to get better.  They wanted to know what I had learned recently and how my work was going.

What I see in my students and in my accounts is that we build knowledge and ways of being together, we share it amongst ourselves and we take this disposition with us when we go.  April (grade 9) helped Curtis (grade 8) to understand, Curtis helped Calvin (grade 7), Calvin helped Kevin (grade 6) and Kevin will help next year's grade six...and when next year's grade six gets to high school she will know that Kevin will already be there and will still be willing to help, as will Calvin and Curtis and April.  Learning to have conversations with people to find ways to access what they think is a skill that is of value for everyone involved - it is learning to build and foster relationships.  It is what we do in my class, that is what I see in my accounts.