We recently observed a lesson in which students were asked to work with a partner to revise the first sentences of their stories. Something that we noticed was all of the different choices students had in where and how to work together.  Take a look for yourselves and see how comfortable and relaxed the learners are.  As well, they had enough space between pairs, so as to not be disturbed by another group's conversation.  They were able to focus on the task, undistracted.  This is an example of how creating a flexible learning environment contributes to student success.