Wondering: What discussion strategies will most effectively engage students to collaborate with peers?
This week the students in my first grade internship classroom participated in student led discussion. Student led discussion is exactly what is sounds like, the students have the floor and the teacher only interjects if necessary (the teacher should interject as little as possible). The first time that the students participated in student led discussion was with the retelling of a story (adhering to the ELA standards). This student led discussion was effective but still had a couple “kinks” to work out. Three days later, the students participated in another student led discussion about the central message of the text (ELA standards). This student led discussion was highly effective, over 80% of the class contributing original ideas that were on topic.
I took these actions because it is the most general form of discussion and allows the students to collaborate as a whole (building classroom community).
When discussing the student answers/praising them for their effectiveness in participation, my CT and I asked the students how they enjoyed the discussion. A majority of the class responded with a thumbs up, and words of excitement.
I believe that this learning is important to my inquiry because it provides solid data related to whole class involvement and collaboration. It also provides me with insight into the students’ opinion of the discussion strategy. I will continue to implement student led discussion when time permits (it takes longer because the entire class should have the chance to participate). I also plan on implementing the strategy of rally table and rally robin (rally robin was implemented once this week as well).
Based on the data that I have collected, I still wonder how I can develop new discussion strategies that meet my students’ needs as individuals.