Creating A True Learning Experience
When grouping students I always like to focus on the differences of each one. I like to group them by their strengths and their weaknesses. I also like to place them according to the differences in their backgrounds and how they learn. This way I can ensure that peer teaching will be effective in each group.
I have found this method to be successful as well. Creating True Learning Experiences in a "group" of students, even in the classroom on a daily basis for that matter, is all about how each individual can learn from each other. As you mentioned Dionne, strategically pairing weaker students with stronger students might be a way to help keep the balance. But it can also go much deeper I think. Considering pairing all of the stronger students together once in a while will help to make them, as Bill Collins put it, from Good to Great. The downside of always matching weaker and stronger students in a group is that sometimes they can identify that this has been done. This is a terrible feeling for those who are perceived as "weaker" students. Also, how might the stronger students ever get even stronger by not surrounding them by students who are stronger than them? Also, students who are perceived as "weaker" may not be weaker at everything- clarification: A useful exercise to employ prior to pairing students might be to have them identify their strengths with regards to the content and context to be covered. Then match the groups according to clearly identified, rather than perceived, overall, or general strengths and weaknesses.
