Pair the Buddies Watch Video #3: Pairing the Buddies In this short video, teachers who have piloted the AIM program share the different strategies they used to pair the buddies and help them get comfortable with each other. Watch the video at www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/aim17-sel-pairingbuddies. Pairing students that can work together comfortably is critical to the success of the AIM program. Buddy pairing is a step you and your buddy teacher will need to work on together. This may take more than one meeting so you can get to know one another’s students in order to make the best pairs. Here are a few things to think about as you prepare to pair the buddies: • Get to know your own students first so you can consider personalities, prior relationships, abilities, and learning styles. • Work out a strategy with your buddy teacher for checking-in with students to be sure the relationship is positive and a good experience for both students. It can be as simple as having students give you a "thumbs up" if they had a good experience or have them answer a simple question when they return to their separate rooms, such as, Are you looking forward to meeting with your buddy next [day]? Why or why not? • Be open to moving around students if a buddy pair is not a good match. • Think ahead and have a plan in place for when a student is absent. You may want to have back-up pairs or groups of three students planned ahead of time. • If you have English language learners, you may want to pair a Big Buddy and Little Buddy who share the same home language. • If you have learners working on English proficiency, you may need to help scaffold the material and vocabulary before, during, and after the sessions. The Vocabulary handouts (see Appendix, Vocabulary Lists) will be helpful in alerting students to challenging words, idioms, or colloquial expressions.
16 Big and Little Buddies: Planning Your Program
