What I am saying is that I really hit them at the end of the year. This is my time to sit back and play observer. I am facilitator instead of teacher. The assignments I give usually require an entire class to cooperate to achieve the end result. Each student has a job, and each job must be completed to achieve the end result.
Peers can sometimes be more effective when it comes to obtaining results from the students.
I like to think of it as positive peer pressure. My students also compile Poetry Anthologies during the spring. The anthology gives the students the opportunity to explore and locate poetry that connects with who they are or want to become. Time is spent preparing and practicing reading selected poems aloud. At the end of the unit, the students open a coffee house in my classroom.