All students must have collaboration skills in order to be competent communicators. These skills include absorbing what is heard, probing, articulating, expressing ideas clearly, and building on othersā thoughts. When well-executed, these skills produce a synergic result.
Without this set of speaking and listening skills, however, classroom conversations can feel torturousāfor you and the students. When the teacher is the hub of questioning and solely responsible for maintaining a discussion, conversation ping-pong occurs.
Ping-ponging gives a false sense of discussion. Even ten exchanges generally result in the teacher contributing ten times, with ten different students contributing once, while the other fifteen to twenty students do not converse at all. Students will not improve their communication techniques by watching their teacher lead most of the discussions in the classroom.
Unlike ping-pong, the traditional arcade game of pinball does not follow a back-and-forth motion. The steel ball bounces all over, triggering flashing lights, buzzers, and bells. Bumpers ricochet, launching that sphere all over the machine. Its movement varies. With a supple wrist, it can even be paused. Contact with the flipper sends it firing back up again.
Becoming a pinball wizard means maximizing student-to-student talk in your classroom. Achieve this objective by setting up the conditions for pinball talk moves.
1. Start With Surface-Level Questions
Too many teachers and supervising administrators have a false perspective that they should avoid surface-level questions. Without general information about a topic, though, it is impossible to debate, defend, compare/contrast, or evaluate it.
Read the remaining 4 hacks here
Teacher Tool Chest
This week's Edge is centered on engaging students in conversation--getting them to ask great questions and interact effectively. Episode 40 of the Hacking Engagement podcast is about inspiring 100 percent participation in your class; can you imagine it?
In the episode, James Sturtevant and his guest discuss the power of Philosophical Chairs. Click here to listen and give this strategy, along with the Hacks in the blog post linked above, a try.
You can find the Hacking Engagement podcast on Apple and Spotify. Add it to your Tool Chest today.
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