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I like how you provided explanations about the different types of ways to encourage discussion.  I think I was only really familiar with think pair share and that is not a favorite of my class.  I will definitely switch it up.  Also the resources for discussions were great.  This was very informative.

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Thank you, Michelle!  As a middle school educator, I fond your conversation regarding distance learning insightful.  It made me reflect (again!) on my practices last spring and how I need to go back and have a similar conversation with my students this year.  We will be in a hybrid model and that will take some thoughtfulmplanning.  Thanks for the resources...

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The Courageous Conversations toolkit is a fabulous resource!  There are plenty of activities and discussions that I already started photocopying and am planning to use at the start of this school year to help set the tone and expectations in my classroom.  A respectful and safe learning environment is what I always strive for and now I have even more stimulus to help me achieve it! Thank you :)

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I have used hot topics with post-its.  One student in the book club places their jot in the middle and students discuss it.  There are supporting conversation starters and moments for them to stop and jot some more.

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I liked the ability to hear the student perspective on distance learning. I am hoping to get feedback from students often this school year, especially as we are working on a hybrid model for some students and a remote model for others. It is important that all students feel their voice is heard. Along with that, it is important for students to be engaged in their learning no matter the platform. The discussion on levels of engagement was useful to understand where different students are within those levels and how we need to make activities intrinsically engaging for students with the end goal of empowering them to direct their own learning.

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I love the checklist on what to look for to "coach" student discussion in the moment - reading, talk and management.  It is so simply, but nothing I ever considered before.  I also had an AHA moment when the READING/SKILLS comes before TALK - seems intuitive, but so often when we discuss we focus on TALK elements to the detriment of the content being discussed.  I also really loved the discussion types/strategies provided and reviewed and will use many this year in my high school classroom.  Thank you.

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I found many of the pieces of this module really thought-provoking and useful. While I have learned about / used aspects of accountable talk in small group / whole class discussions and book groups with upper elementary students, I loved Katie R's suggestions about the three areas to focus on / dig into after listening to the students talk. I also loved the checklists and resources provided for accountable talk. I would like to look more carefully through the resources for "having courageous conversations" and find ways to use these with students. in regards to a comment about how to support this work while in a remote model, I wonder about... small breakout rooms? creating a padlet? safe partnerships, perhaps using a combination of "buddy journals" / writing back and forth and talk? Just thinking out loud.

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Loved all the shared resources.  Love the focus on student voice.  The interview with students provided great feedback for us as we move forward....

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I have been very into mastery-based and/or project based learning for awhile now, but it is very hard to get others to make that shift: both administration seeing the value in the "mess" of that teaching-learning, and also getting students out of their regurgitation comfort zone to ask questions and create.  I am hoping this year to grow student comfort in making decisions and asking questions.

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I really liked the idea of "accountable talk" and the chart that was included. I also really enjoyed listening to what the middle schoolers had to say about distant learning. I think getting constabnt feedback from the students is one of the main ways to empower the students both in the classroom and in their daily lives.

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I appreciated the course tools provided as well as the strategies to deepen conversations. I liked all the examples and videos on how to increase engagement, that we will be able to use. With distance learning and social distancing, we could use a whole different or modified set of tools on increasing engagement at this time (though using Padlet and other tools, such as groups in Zoom, are some tools). I enjoyed the middle school students and their discussion on what did and did not work during distance learning.

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This course dovetailed nicely with an earlier one that talked about the future of jobs being in creative thinking.  If students move from compliance to creative self-direction, they will be well positioned not only to be good people, but good citizens who have doors of opportunity to open.  One take away I had from this course is the idea that it is important students also learn how to listen to each other during class discussions.  As a society we seem to be losing the ability for civil discourse.  I'm hoping that a focus on this in my classroom might help change this.

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I worry that this is the way that teachers approach literacy development with random activities not considering the audience and the content. What is the role of relevancy and question development? Questions that need to be considered include how to develop the relationship between oral communication (listening and speaking) and written communication (reading and writing). How to create a natural flow in a conversation? What are the key elements of an illuminating conversation? How does talking about a topic and/or idea help students develop the logic to present their thoughts and connections? How might learners learn to naturally develop their communication to include prior knowledge in their idea development? What is the role of audience when we speak?

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As a Kinder teacher, we use "turn & talk" all the time.  I would love to incorporate more movement by even just telling kids to go to a different corner of the room or walk and talk.  I love the snowball activity and really feel that could work for older kids!

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It was great to learn about more creative ideas to get students involved in discussions, and trying to touch every type of learner like the Snowball discussion which involves writing and talking. I also enjoyed the video on shifting from Engagement to Enpowerment. This is a big push in our middle school where we are moving students to take ownership of the class.

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I look forward to using these techniques with my undergraduate education majors so they can learn how to apply them when they become teachers. This course is so well-organized. Thank you.

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I have tried a few of the discussion strategies such as the snowball discussion activity... I did enjoy it. I look forward to trying new activities with my students and I am particularly interested in seeing how I can make these things happen if we go virtual.   I love the idea of giving students a choice and propelling their own education. We allow for that in the last two units of our curriculum, but not really before that. I am going to see how I can adapt things to allow for a bit more choice this year.

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I really liked the discussion strategies.  Such simple, but engaging activities for the students.

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Hi-my favorite resource was Having Courageous Conversations...I was hoping there would be some suggestions from someone who may be tech savvy to be able to utilize some of the discussion resources virtually. Trying to create a safe virtual space will most likely present a few more challenged than in the physical classroom space.

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I really enjoyed the interview with Kate Roberts.  I'm looking to improve upon my book clubs, and her three "look fors" (or listen fors) were really helpful in narrowing down what each group could use work on.  Those small group lessons will then allow students to have better conversations, which will in turn allow them to get more out of their book clubs.  Now I have to figure out the best way to have book clubs in a hybrid model to keep the momentum going!

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I enjoyed learning about Schlecty early on. This is great academic language to connect concepts about motivation and self-efficacy.  I look forward to working with students and the levels of engagement.

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I loved this course! My favorite takeaway was shifting from just student engagement and trying to make materials 'interesting' to putting the power in students' hands. I had the same question about the July 30th 12:23 PM poster did on how to use these techniques in the "in-person" or hybrid model for this fall which will not allow for most of the strategies to work the way they are designed (e.g. turn & talk)

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I liked the strategies that actively engaged students and allowed them movement such as 4 corners and the gallery walk. It allowed different groups of student to collaborate with being "forced".

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I really enjoyed this course! The videos were split up well and held my attention. My takeaways are all of the different discussion strategies, while I was familiar with some of them, there were definitely new ideas there! I also will walk away with the strategies shared to deepen conversation through listening into book clubs. Thank you!

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The resources provided are awesome.  The video clips were the right amount to keep you engaged!!!

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I appreciate the material and strategies!

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I loved the tools for discussions, although I couldn't find resource for some including Save the last word for me, What would they say, and tabletop twitter.  I am excited to use the others if we return to in person classwork this fall.  What I am left wondering is how some of these can be used in the virtual world.  The Gallery Walk would be "simple" to do virutally, but so many others depend upon in person learning or synchronous learning - which we did not have in the spring.  Any suggestions?

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I especially appreciated the framework and how it led interactive engagement out of the classroom. Possibly, the determination and readiness to speak out and be heard needs constant nurturing, even if there are bitter frustrations. I especially imagine for myself that the road to maturing into a lifelong learner usually passes through a younger phase of identifying with being unstoppable, an unstoppable learner.

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My takeaway is the various types of discussion strategies you talked about. These strategies do not require lots of teacher prep, but give lots of student feedback and also gives them a stronger voice because they are working in smaller groups and all have a part in the activity. Thank you for these great examples of group discussion strategies.

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Hi Michelle,

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Hi Michelle,
Thank you for the fun and thought-provoking module. I liked the idea of how simple it is to use "talk" in a classroom. It does not require a lot of preparation, materials, or even time- to use this effectively, and if used habitually in a classroom it allows students to be empowered leading to highest levels of engagement and then action. Thank you!

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Hello, It's Michelle! I hope you enjoyed the course as much as I enjoyed creating it. Please comment with a takeaway or two and any other thoughts you would like to share. Happy Summer!