Tag:

classroom discussion

Image of female teacher at front of classroom with adult students

Four Ways to Show Your Teacher You’re Paying Attention in Class

by Dr. Bruce Ellis October 7, 2022

written by Dr. Bruce Ellis

Metacognition is the science of paying attention to how we learn so that we can learn better. It’s easy to assume that students know how to pay attention because they are, in fact, students and go to school. But how often do we talk to our students about actual steps they can take to increase their productivity as a student? So with that in mind, consider sharing this article with your students for a class discussion. I’d recommend highlighting the post, starting with the next paragraph through the question section, and pasting it into a Google Doc for your students to access. Besides sharing aloud, students can add comments to the documents with their thoughts and ideas.

1. Participate.

One of the most common ways to demonstrate to your teacher that you’re paying attention in class is to participate. Participation in class allows you to provide feedback to your teacher and helps him or her understand how well you are doing. Generally, teachers seek student input on certain topics, which can help them design the lessons more effectively. The process can also encourage you to prepare for class. If you come prepared to class, you will be more likely to engage in active participation. Another way to demonstrate participation in class is to speak up during class discussions. You can share ideas by writing on the whiteboard or posting thoughtful comments on a discussion forum such as Padlet or YoTeach if the teacher permits.

2. Raise Your Hand.

A raising of the hand by the teacher can be used as a signal for students to stop what they’re doing and raise their hands. If they’re unable to respond, the teacher can hold up their hand in a silent gesture. This signal is best used when the teacher wants the entire class to stop what they’re doing.

Raising your hand to show your teacher that you’re paying attention in class is a simple way to get the teacher’s attention. During a discussion, raising your hand is an effective way to show that you’re paying attention and also to respect classmates, or the teacher, who may be currently talking. Raising your hand is a great way to avoid interrupting others, keep the discussion open, and allow everyone to speak.

3. Eliminate Distractions.

One of the easiest ways to show your teacher you’re paying attention is to eliminate all forms of digital distractions from your study area. This includes switching off your cell phone or placing it face-down on your desk. In addition, it’s helpful to avoid sitting near window seats, where you can see activities outside the classroom. Suppose the distraction is actually another student that is near you. In that case, you may have to put effort into ignoring them, let them know that your learning is important to you, ask them to discontinue whatever it is that’s distracting, or move spots in the classroom. By minimizing your distractions, you’ll be able to focus better on class material.

4. Take Notes.

Taking notes in class is a great way to let the teacher know you are paying attention. Instead of taking word-for-word notes, consider summarizing what the teacher is saying every so often and writing that information down. You may find it easier to do quick sketches or doodles to represent the information being discussed. If needed, ask the teacher to repeat important information so that you can get it correct in your notes. And if something is confusing, likely, your teacher would rather you raise your hand and ask for clarification now instead of waiting until the end of class so that other following information makes better sense. If you need clarification, someone else in class likely needs it as well. Writing information down means you’ll be more likely to recall the information later on.

Follow-up Questions for Class Discussion

Here are a few questions to ask your students once they’ve read the previous information. You may find that additional questions are relevant based on the engagement and interaction of students on this topic.

As the teacher, what is something I might see you doing that indicates that you are paying attention? It might be one of the four things mentioned above, but it may also be something else.
What are some of the distractions in class? Any suggestions on how you (or we) can help eliminate those?
What about our classroom environment (the room arrangement, the way I structure lessons, etc.) helps you pay attention? Is there anything that we need to consider tweaking that would make it easier for you to pay attention?
What about our classroom culture (how we interact with each other, how I talk with/to you, etc.) helps you pay attention and enjoy the class? Is there anything about our classroom culture that we might need to change or adapt?

Let Us Know

Let us know if you try this with your students and how it goes. Does it spark good (and possibly ongoing) discussions that empower students to more likely take ownership of their learning? How did your students react to having a conversation about paying attention? Did they mention that other teachers were asking them similar things in order to make their classroom even more meaningful? Let us know in the comments below.

October 7, 2022 3 comments

Good Teaching

Strategies for Classroom Discussion

by Miguel Guhlin June 2, 2021

written by Miguel Guhlin

Capturing what a student has learned in a lesson can be powerful indicator of success. When students know how to engage in effective classroom discussions, they learn. As I shared in this blog entry on classroom discussion, this strategy offers much. In that entry, I pointed out that:

Classroom discussions make it possible for students to connect with one another. Use this strategy to activate prior knowledge and explore new topics. Students are able to learn from others and show learning. It engages students and gives all students the chance to take part.

Yet, at the end of the blog entry, I left a question unanswered. That question was, “What are some classroom discussion strategies?” In this blog entry, I would like to answer that question and offer a handy infographic and multimedia text set to learn more.

classroom discussions

A Multimedia Text Set: Classroom Discussion

Want to get some background knowledge on classroom discussion? Then be sure to explore this short multimedia text set to learn more about it.

classroom discussions

Strategy #1: Think-Puzzle-Explore

Remember that one of the benefits of classroom discussion is tracking student ideas. You need to make their thinking visible, as it happens. One easy approach? Use a chart board or whiteboard to do that. You can also use an online learning management system such as Google Classroom with Jamboard or Microsoft Team “stream” or conversation area or your standalone digital whiteboard solution.

classroom discussions

The Think-Puzzle-Explore approach centers discussion around three questions, including:

What do you THINK you know about this topic?
What questions or PUZZLES do you have?
How can you EXPLORE this topic?

“In this routine, students are generally sharing their thinking at each step along the way. Then, they move on to the next one. This allows the class to build on the group’s thinking. It results in richer discussions” (source). See the example below:

classroom discussions

Strategy #2: Multimedia Text Sets

Lisa Highfill’s Multimedia Text Sets (MMTS) ease the sharing of new information. Multimedia text sets help learners glean information and ideas that may come from a variety of media sources. Get a copy of a multimedia text set about MMTSs for your own.

One other powerful idea is that a short MMTS is also easy to include during instruction. Then, students on their own or students in small groups can share their thinking. Since the MMTS is a digital document in Google Docs/Slides/Jamboard or OneNote, it’s easy to capture.

classroom discussions

Strategy #3: Thoughts, Questions, or Epiphanies

Ready to explore Marisa E. Thompson’s TQE Process? In her blog entry, The Unlimited Teacher, she shares the TQE process:

Students read the assigned reading at home with annotations.
Small group discussions as students enter the room.
Share question stems for students as needed.
Students start with the stems on the left, but progress to more difficult ones after teacher modeling.
Students post their top two of each TQE by the end of 15 minutes:
- Thoughts
- Lingering Questions
- Epiphanies

Then, at the end, they have a class discussion about the TQEs. Marisa provides some scaffolding for small group discussions. She suggests they start with a list of WHAT questions (e.g. What do you think will happen?). After that, they move to discussing author motivation and insights (e.g. Why would the author?).

classroom discussions

I love how easy it is to use the annotating a text guidelines Marisa shares. She suggests dividing a page in two. On the left side of the page, you summarize anything the author left behind. This can include arguments, claims, ideas, intended audience, etc. On the right side, summarize anything you wonder about.

classroom discussions

Get the image via The Unlimited Teacher

Be sure to read Marisa’s blog entry for more information. You can also get her discussion stems via Teachers Pay Teachers.

Get the Infographic for Better Classroom Discussion

Now you may notice that I’ve not listed all the classroom discussions mentioned. In fact, I have left one of them off. That’s because I feature it in this blog entry, Wakelet-Empowered Classroom Discussions. I hope you will take a moment to read about it and how you can use a digital tool like Wakelet with it.

Get the PDF version

classroom discussions

Feature Image Source

Photo by Taylor Flowe on Unsplash

June 2, 2021 2 comments

Good Teaching

Virtual Learning Strategy #1: Classroom Discussion

by Miguel Guhlin September 25, 2020

written by Miguel Guhlin

How would you combine one high-effect size instructional strategy with a digital tool? If it’s a question you’ve asked yourself before, you’re not alone. Several thousand of the educators who have completed the TCEA Remote Learning Educator course have asked themselves the same question. Let’s take a moment to see what teachers had to say about one of the strategies studied: classroom discussion.

Before we do that, let’s revisit high-effect size instructional strategies.

Revisiting Strategies That Work

“We have no right to teach in a way that leads to students gaining less than d=0.40 within a year,” says John Hattie. He asked the question, “What works best in education?” Then he answered it in his ground-breaking study on visible learning. In his study, he found a way of synthesizing various influences that are connected to learning outcomes. The most effective strategies have high effect sizes. Hattie found that the average effect size of all the interventions he studied was 0.40.

This is even more true now during virtual learning. “Now, it is all about finding the effective ones for remote learning,” says Aimee Maganda. Knowing how an evidence-backed strategy works with a digital tool saves time and effort. As one educator put it:

First of all, I would like to say that this has been a fascinating new concept for me. I am very familiar with instructional strategies and digital tools. This was the first time I actually evaluated how effective a strategy is. That is, how effective it is in conjunction with a digital tool.

Now, I plan to refer to the chart and take a look at some of the more effective teaching methods. It will also be interesting to see how much bang for your buck you can get with some of the strategies.

For example, I found it very interesting that a flipped classroom scored a 0.58. It takes so much time to plan versus a classroom discussion that scored a 0.82. Classroom discussion doesn’t take as much physical planning as a flipped classroom.

This could help me maximize my planning time and maximize the impact of my instruction.

There are many strategies teachers referenced. I suggested a few in my chart. What was fun to see were the actual examples teachers offered. A top ten list emerged.

Honorable Mentions

Before we explore the top ten list, here are some of the honorable mentions:

Deliberate Practice (0.79) with Gimkit.com
Feedback (0.64) with a learning management system (LMS) such as Canvas or Teams
Metacognition Strategies (0.58) with Flipgrid
Problem-Solving Teaching (0.68) with Minecraft
Spaced vs. Massed Practice (0.65)
Success Criteria (0.88) with Google Classroom
The Modality Effect (0.55) with Wakelet
Vocabulary Program (0.63) with Padlet

Remember, you can explore each of the strategies. To do so, go to the Visible Learning Meta X database. Ready to see the top ten list of strategies? Well, you will have to wait for future blog entries to see the complete list. Let’s start with the number one strategy teachers mentioned.

classroom discussion

Strategy #1: Classroom Discussion

“I use classroom discussion to capture what a student has learned for that lesson. I can see what they knew or didn’t know,” says one teacher. The most popular strategy, classroom discussion, lends itself to teachers’ imaginations. They are able to combine a wide variety of digital tools with classroom discussion.

Classroom discussions make it possible for students to connect with one another. Use this strategy to activate prior knowledge and explore new topics. Students are able to learn from others and show learning. What’s neat about classroom discussion is that it engages students and gives all students the chance to take part.

Did You Know?

On September 26th, from 1:00 to 2:00 PM (EST), attend a Whiteboard.chat webinar to answer questions and showcase features you need to know about. Sign up via Facebook and register for this learning opportunity. This is a free webinar on how to better use the digital whiteboard for remote teaching effectively.

Some Tips on Making Classroom Discussion Work

Consider these tips on making this strategy work best for your students:

Before students respond to questions online, have them discuss with a partner. Use a digital whiteboard where students can discuss. Whiteboard.fi and Jamboard allow collaboration.
Ask for student interpretations of questions, then clarify their thinking or redirect.
Use students’ individual responses as models. Your use of them can deepen further discussion for the whole class.
Be strategic about which student voices you amplify.

Let’s consider how some educators are focusing in on classroom discussion.

Examples of Digital Tools

Some of the notable examples included using these technologies:

Breakout Rooms: Depending on your platform of choice, teachers use breakout rooms. The use of breakout rooms to organize classroom discussions was popular. Platforms that support breakout rooms include Canvas, Seesaw, Teams, and Zoom. Each does so with varying degrees of success, of course.
Flipgrid: “The students can post a video of themselves answering the discussion question. They can watch/reply to other students’ answers,” says one educator. Students could have a question of the day posted on Tuesday and Thursday. On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, they respond to the question. Students also view responses from their peers. Flipgrid enjoys popular support, even among second grade teachers. “The kids love to make videos and I can quickly assess if they are understanding the objective.”
Google Jamboard: “Students can read what others are saying. Then they can contribute their own thoughts. They can sort elements into a graphic organizer, help each other spell or count … it’s like a digital center’s group!” Combine Jamboard with Zoom to capture student responses in real time. “It’s been fantastic, my students are always excited to ‘jam with each other’,” says an educator.
NearPod: “I have used Nearpod for classroom discussions,” said another teacher. Others have learned to use NearPod to support hybrid learning situations. “With Nearpod, I can assign the same lesson as a live lesson and a student-paced lesson with the click of a button. It ensures I continue reinforcing previous concepts, or even creating new ones! Learn how to do this here.“

New digital tools create more opportunities for interaction. Some of those new tools include Whiteboard.fi, Whiteboard.chat, and Curioasis .

Final Thoughts

Classroom discussion may be one of the most misunderstood high-effect size strategies. For many, creating engaging classroom discussions for students is a critical component of many lessons. While that is a priority, you also have another goal: to use classroom discussions as a source of data. Then you can use that data to adapt your instruction to better meet the needs of students.

In future blog entries, we’ll explore some of the other popular strategies. These are all strategies TCEA Remote Learning Educator course participants report using daily.

September 25, 2020 0 comment

Good Teaching Google Tips and Tricks

High-Impact Classroom Discussions with Google

by Diana Benner September 16, 2019

written by Diana Benner

John Hattie’s research identifies classroom discussions as having an effect size on student achievement of 0.82, which means approximately two years’ of growth in one year. Do you have classroom discussions in your class? Do you use Google tools to promote classroom discussion? If not, let’s take a look at how you can use them to increase student learning in your classroom.

The Power of Classroom Discussions

Classroom discussions are an instructional strategy where students are invited to speak about the topic at hand. But it involves much more than just a teacher asking a class a question and then another, etc., It involves all students having robust discussion with each other in order to think more critically about a topic.

Using Classroom Discussions to Adapt Instruction

Classroom discussions allow students to improve communication skills by voicing their opinions and thoughts. Teachers also benefit from classroom discussion as it allows them to see if students have learned the concepts that are being taught. Moreover, a classroom discussion creates an environment where everyone learns from each other, which is the best kind of learning.

The key to successful classroom discussions is the feedback given by and the instructional adjustments made by the teacher. According to Hattie, “when implemented correctly, classroom discussions can be a source of rich, qualitative data – data that allows teachers to understand the thinking of their students more closely and determine if there are information processing errors that need instructional intervention immediately.”

Planning for Classroom Discussions

When planning for classroom discussions, teachers should consider the following:

Classroom Discussions

Share expectations. When planning for Classroom Discussions, it is important to share your expectations for participation, including the ground rules for the discussion. Sharing a rubric with students will help to clarify your expectations.
Create questions. Create a series of questions for the students to think about. Make sure these are open-ended and thought-provoking questions. Your questions could spark controversy or draw on common experiences. This way, you will spark a meaningful discussion.
Allocate enough time. Discussions take time to get started.
Ensure that it’s the students talking and not you. You already know the content being discussed!
Facilitate the discussion and adjust instruction, as needed. Monitor what is being said and ask students for clarification. This is where you get an understanding if the student understands the topic being discussed and adjust instruction as needed.
Deal with conflict. It is important not to ignore conflicts. If a misunderstanding occurs, make sure you step in and clarify. Do not let certain students dominate the discussion. In addition, make sure that students can freely express their opinion without being laughed at.
Summarize the discussion. Provide a summary or some conclusions of the discussion.
After the discussion, reflect on what worked well and what you might do differently next time. Think about the students that didn’t participate much or didn’t understand the topic.

Google Tools for Classroom Discussions

Classroom Discussions

Google tools can complement the effectiveness of classroom discussions. With online discussions, teachers can view and select individual student responses to deepen further discussion for the whole class. This way, the teacher is using the thinking of students to drive instruction for the entire class. Teachers can also use whole-class views to push students’ thinking beyond the material being studied. In addition, online discussions will give a voice to those students are aren’t comfortable speaking up in class. The main thing to remember is that the teacher must model how to post in the online forum. Below are a few tools to get started with.

Google Classroom – The Google Classroom question feature allows teachers to have their own version of an online discussion board. Simply ask a question and students can begin having a discussion online.

Google Slides – Teachers can have a classroom discussion using Google Slides. As Alice Keeler points out in her blog, you can post a question in Google Slides and then have the students insert a slide to respond to the question. Students can insert comments on the slides of other students to respond. Get the discussion template here.

Google Sheets – Google Sheets can also be used to facilitate classroom discussions. On her blog, Alice Keeler mentions how you can create a list of discussion topics on the first sheet and then run a script to create a tab for each question. Students can then respond to the questions collaboratively. Get the discussion template here.

Pear Deck Google Add-On – Pear Deck is an add-on for Google Slides that will allow teachers to ask students questions. Students will be prompted to answer your questions as you advance your slides.

Additional Digital Tools for Classroom Discussions

Some additional digital tools for classroom discussions include:

Back Channel Chat – Backchannel Chat is a class discussion tool that was designed to look like an online chat room. Teachers can control of all aspects of the discussions. They can remove messages and prevent students from posting, if the pace of the discussion is overwhelming and key messages are lost.

Flipgrid – Flipgrid is a video discussion platform that helps teachers see and hear from every student in class. Teachers can post a topic for discussion and students then respond by recording their thoughts via a short video clip. Students can then watch the videos of their classmates and respond back to them to generate further discussion.

Nearpod – Nearpod provides another way to hold classroom discussions. Students can answer a prompt by reporting their thoughts and feelings through open-ended text. When answers are submitted, the teacher can see everyone’s response on their dashboard. They can even push out the responses to each student’s device. The teacher can keep it anonymous or mention the student’s name.

Padlet – Padlet is an online bulletin board in which students can post responses to discussion questions. Teachers should instruct students to put their name in the Title of their Padlet post. After students have posted their response, teachers can reply to their post. Students can even attach files or links to their responses.

Try a Classroom Discussion

Classroom discussions can be a powerful data source for teachers to adapt instruction. Therefore, you should try a classroom discussion or adjust a discussion you already have. As a result, it will lead to increased student learning in your classroom.

September 16, 2019 2 comments

Educational Research

Research-Based Strategies: Part 2

by Lori Gracey October 12, 2018

written by Lori Gracey

Knowing exactly what to do to improve student learning is difficult today. There are more than 250 recognized strategies for accelerating learning, but not all of them provide the best results. So as a classroom teacher or district leader, how can you decide which ones to spend previous time on?

Hattie to the Rescue!

As we discussed in the previous blog, John Hattie has examined more than 80,000 different research studies involving more than 300 million students in order to determine what specific, measurable, and relevant strategies educators should be spending time on. He’s then ranked the strategies from most productive to least (or even negatively impacting learning) based on their effect size. (As a reminder, the bigger the effect size, the greater the impact that particular strategy will have on students. An effect size of 0.4 or greater means that the strategy will cause a significant, positive impact on learning. So we need to seek out those strategies whose effect size is greater than 0.4.)

After all of his study, Hattie found that there were nine different strategies that schools could implement with no additional funding (generally) that would, if implemented correctly, dramatically accelerate student learning. We’re going to count down each one over the next few blogs and see if technology can add value to each strategy.

Strategy Number 9: Classroom Discussion

research-based strategies

Classroom discussion has an effect size of 0.82, which is more than twice what we need to know that a specific strategy will make a difference in learning. Hattie defines classroom discussion as “a method of teaching that involves the entire class in a discussion. The teacher stops lecturing and students get together as a class to discuss an important issue.” The key points are that all students in the class take part in the discussion, whether it is in person or online; that the teacher is silent; and that the issue(s) being discussed matters to the students. In order to involve all, the students must feel safe and unjudged before they will venture an opinion. This site has some great ideas on how to make this happen, along with specific things for the teacher to do before, during, and after a class discussion. You can also find different ways to do classroom discussions here.

There are a number of technology tools that can help facilitate classroom discussions. What makes these work especially well is that again, the students are the ones responding while the teacher simply facilitates the conversation:

Flipgrid (video comments by students)
Google Classroom
Google Hangouts
Microsoft Teams
Skype
Twitter

Strategy Number 8: Micro-Teaching/Video Review of Lessons

With an effect size of 0.88, this strategy again packs a punch. What is important to realize about it from the start is that, unlike strategy number 9, this one is all about the teacher. He/She is video recorded presenting a mini-lesson. The lesson is then reviewed by the teacher and/or a coach or supervisor in order to improve the teaching and learning experience. Just as all of us are surprised when we hear our own voice for the first time, seeing ourselves teach can also bring powerful revelations. Unlike when a teacher is being evaluated by an administrator, however, having the lesson video taped allows for him/her to go back and review the actions in question over and over again, as well as those teaching moments that worked well. It allows for greater reflection and growth over time.

To be most effective, the discussion as the teacher and a peer watch the video should center around specific, viewable behaviors/actions, some of which may have been designated before the lesson was taught. The peer must facilitate the conversation so that the teacher draws his/her own conclusions and is not just told what to improve by the peer coach. At the end, the teacher should select one area to work on improving for the next few weeks.

Technical aspects of the video are much less important than the analysis, which allows teachers to get a microscope-view on their own teaching. So you don’t have to worry about being able to or taking the time to edit it.

You can see a good example of an elementary school micro-teaching video here and a secondary one here. Ideally, micro-teaching lessons should be short (less than 15 minutes is perfect) and should have the students acting as they normally would with no advance preparation or practicing.

As far as how technology can enhance this strategy, any cell phone with a camera is all that’s really needed. Again, the quality of the video is not what matters, only that the teacher can watch him/herself teach the lesson and reflect on what is good or needs improvement in it.

What’s Next

In the next blog, to be published on Oct. 16, we’ll look at two more “bang for your buck” strategies: teacher credibility and conceptual change programs. And if you think this topic has value for your teachers or school leaders, please allow me to come out and work with them to implement these proven approaches with your students. You can email me at lgracey@tcea.org.

October 12, 2018 2 comments