8/31 - back to school night

I was a little worried about some comments that I might get on back to school night. I now have my classroom set up where all the students are sitting in a group of four every day so that they can ask questions to each other. I have had the students work together in the past where parents have commented that their kids should be learning from the expert, not another kid. Last night, every person that I talked to seemed to really like the idea that the students were working together on a regular basis to get questions answered. There was not a single parent that had anything negative to say. I wonder if this will change into an excuse once they start taking more quizzes and test. I think that I am still fighting with many of the kids to feel comfortable to ask questions to each other. My upper classmen are starting to catch on for the most part, but my freshmen do not seem to fully grasp the concept of working together for understanding. They are still at the point where they are more interested in getting or giving the right answer and not asking why or how that answer happened.