Here are the times when we need to speak up: If harm is done If we’re practicing these discussions over time, we might be intervening a bit more in the first one or two discussions, and gradually moving out as the students become more confident over time. If students have access to a view-only version, they can monitor their own progress without you having to verbally remind students to speak up.Īs much as we want our students to be engaged in a fully student-led discussion, there are times where our intercession is necessary. This task can also be assigned to a student if you are looking for ways for students to participate when they’re on an off-day. This is a simple way to track student participation without having to shuffle papers around. You can label the columns “Comment 1”, “Comment 2”, “Asked a question”, “Used evidence”, etc. In each additional column, use INSERT > CHECKBOX to create a clickable checkbox. Copy and paste your roster in the first column. The logistics of these discussion strategies can be difficult to navigate the first few times though, so I’ve built two helpful tools that help me keep track of the discussion quickly and efficiently so I can spend more time paying attention to the content of the conversation. Your goal is to fade into the background during the discussion and closely observe student interactions and listen to the evolution of the conversation as it unravels organically. In order to accomplish these goals, it requires us, the instructors, to set up purposeful scaffolds on the front and back end of each discussion however, in order for students to engage with the practice needed to meet these goals, we have to let the discussion happen organically and without our interference. To engage in discourse to deepen thought not to be right or wrong To learn the difference between neutrality and open-mindedness How to listen to and trace the development of claims and argumentsīuilding confidence in students owning their own voicesīuild connections between ideas and elevate them to a new layer of the conversation If I had to make a master list of what I’m aiming for my class discussion to be able to do, it would look something like this: And we, as educators, need to make sure that all of the pieces are in place so that the conversation can happen organically and without your constant intervention. critical, political, and sometimes even emotional. These discussions are high energy, personal. Students are encouraged to utilize a variety of sources to provide a variety of perspectives on the answer or solution to the question at hand. Most often, discussions in my classroom are anchored to the unit essential question and present a series of sub-questions that are related. No matter which of the above is your jam, I think we can all agree that class discussion and the techniques we use to make them happen are all chasing after the goal of helping our students learn to have thoughtful discourse, how to talk about hard topics respectfully, and how to evolve their positions with both concession and deeper, more complex claims.ĭiscussion, whether it be at the beginning, middle, or after a unit of study, is a cornerstone in the pursuit of an inquiry-driven curriculum.
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