Majority Doesn't Necessarily Rule

We have consensus groups in my classroom. I love them. More today than ever....

1) Students do a short review assignment on their own. No help from me or classmates. 
2) Next, I form groups of two or three. They must reach consensus on answers. I witness lots of automatic peer teaching, communication, and critical thinking. 
3) We summarize and orally evaluate how we did as groups and with the assignment. 

Today we had an interesting second grade situation where one group of three all had wrong answers to begin with, but after discussion reached consensus with the correct answer.  I loved it! 

But then something even more amazing happened.... One group shared how their group of three had two people with the wrong answer and one with the right answer at first, but all ended up with the correct answer. They took the time to listen even though in "seven year old world" majority rules. 

I was in awe at the conclusion that came from our discussion...something much more important than math... "Just because more people think it's right, doesn't mean it is. Sometimes people just need to listen."