Half the Chemistry class was gone yesterday, so they had to make up their experiment today. Well, one student of the students who did her work yesterday entreated me to lead her peers through the experiment. It was pretty awesome, because she had been struggling with the topic for the last week and had finally gotten it yesterday.
And she did an excellent job. She not only walked the rest of the class through the theoretical calculations, but guided them through the experiment itself.
Peer teaching works best when students are excited about what they’ve learned and want to share. I’m still trying to figure out the best way of inciting this excitement when I break the groups up for their projects. Giving them choice is important, but also, I think, giving them challenging work that they’re proud to accomplish.