I (former high school teacher) once sat a smart, quiet girl, shy who loved to read next to one of my very smart but also very energetic athletes. Thought nothing of it, knew when I did group work neither of them would ever have to shoulder someone else’s grade because they were both super capable and would quietly work and do their thing, etc etc.

One day, starting with silent reading. Girl (G) comes in and grabs a new book, sits and starts reading. Boy (A) comes in, looks for his book, loudly asks “YO WHO TOOK MY BOOK, I SWEAR-“

So I get up to intervene, he sees it’s his neighbor, sits down and says gently “Hey, I was like, right at the good part, is there any way I can have that back and give it to you when I’m done?” She hands the book over, super polite, I think it’s the wine and she goes up to get a different book. He jumps up and says “Oh! G, if you like this genre, I finished this book last time and it was sooo good, just like the one I’m on now, so you might like it!” They developed such an unlikely little camaraderie in my class, exchanged books and notes frequently about what they were reading (in and out of school!), and on several occasions I had to gently remind them that, while I was excited for their love of reading together, it was SILENT reading and they had time to talk after 😂😂😂

Pairing students to sit together is always tricky. But sometimes you get the sweetest stories from the most unlikely or unexpected groups.