Today I caught a student being a teacher.

It was during the "you can talk in your groups" time of the period. This 12-year-old teacher was kneeling next to her team-mate and explaining, while using a number line, exactly how to add integers. She was using correct vocabulary and she was explaining exactly as I had modeled previously with the entire class. She was patient, kind and respectful.

I wandered away to check on other groups and when I returned, the teacher had sat down and the student was working steadily on the next examples. With two quick checks of her understanding, I knew that she had it.

I am not the only teacher in the room. There are a multitude of situations in which students can be teachers. You just have to let them.