Schedule the Sessions The AIM program is made up of 20 session. To maximize the learning experience, you should try to meet at least once a week to complete all of the Buddy Prep and Topic Buddy sessions. If possible, schedule Topic Buddy Sessions 1 (Introduction) and 2 (Read and Talk Together) during the same week. Session 1 prepares the buddies (separately) by defining and discussing the topic and the interactive feature. Session 2 lets the buddies experience the interactive feature together. Students are more likely to retain the information they learned from Session 1 as they go through the interactive feature during Session 2. Schedule the Topic Buddy Session 3 (Reflections) as soon as possible after Session 2. If you schedule it during the same week or at the beginning of the following week, students will be able to more easily reflect on their learning as the information will be fresh in their minds. Think about your student's needs as you schedule the sessions. Although we recommend beginning the program with the empathy unit, this may be a difficult topic for buddies to open up to with their new buddy. You might want to find additional times when buddies can meet and get to better know one another before working on this first story together. (This can be a simple activity such as having lunch together.) Or cover empathy later in the program if you feel your students will benefit from it more after getting to know their buddies better.
Tip Tips for Scheduling Your Sessions • If your class has never participated in buddy learning before, consider the time of day for the buddy meetings. It can be less disruptive and time consuming to schedule buddy sessions right before a transition time. For example, Big Buddies can escort the Little Buddies to lunch or help them get ready to go home after the buddy experience. This has the added bonus of increasing the buddy bond outside the formal classroom experience. • Be creative when scheduling the sessons if your schedule is tight. For example, if you only have a 30-minute session time to do Prep Session 1, you can introduce Arthur to the students during 15 minutes of snack time and then use the full 30-minute session to have students complete the "Who Am I?" project. • If you are unable to complete three sessions for each topic due to schedule constraints, you may choose to skip the third session. Encourage students to reflect about their experiences through other activities within your existing curriculum.
17 Big and Little Buddies: Planning Your Program
