We want good group dynamics in our stories, but wanting is not enough, and a sense of neediness on the teacher’s part actually makes the group dynamics shakier. Good group dynamics happen when the teacher allows the students to just be who they are in the classroom. Then the teacher will see something.
Creating an environment where students can simply be who they are is a gift of love. Forcing students to focus their thinking on mere form, and assigning grades so that force and judgment are invited into our classes, is far from loving. The students retaliate by shutting down. And then we have no hope of getting to interesting stories, much less compelling ones.
So it can be said that our work involves far more than merely transmitting information to our students. It is mostly about transmitting approval, and of teaching everyone in the classroom to also approve of each other in a kind way by modeling kindness on a daily basis in class.
Doing such a thing is almost impossible to do in a traditional classroom because of where our focus is. It seemed impossible to me at times even when using TPRS because I still had a fog of forms (targets) between my brain and my heart. But bringing kindness and awareness to an Invisibles classroom is an easy thing once the class has buy-in on the process and the focus of instruction – the kids and their startlingly creative ideas.