Silent Discussions: A Method to Increase Student Participation in the Classroom
Teachers always strive for the best - a thought provoking, thorough class discussion. We often fall short.
There are many reasons that a class discussion fails, but one major problem is a lack of participation. A student may have something terrific to say, but he or she may simply be too shy to say it.
One way to address this problem is to utilize a different spin on class discussions - silent discussions.
What is a Silent Discussion?
It is more or less what it sounds like. Students discuss things without talking. They write their responses down instead.
You'll need two things - some large pieces of paper (giant post it notes or poster paper would work) and a well behaved class.
On the large pieces of paper, write or tape small quotations, statements, or questions. These prompts should be short and to the point. They should also be provocative.
Divide your class up into pairs. Have them move their desks together (facing each other). In between each pair, place one of the large pieces of paper. As you may have noticed, you'll need one discussion sheet and prompt for every two students.
Students take two minutes or so to respond to the prompt in front of them. When you feel that a pair has responded thoroughly, switch their paper with another pair. Try to float all of the discussion sheets around so that each pair sees each sheet at least once.
Be careful not to take too long between switches. With 10 pairs of students and only two minutes per prompt, this discussion will take 20 minutes. It's easy to run out of time.
Instructing the Students
For this activity to work well, the students need to know what is expected of them.
They need to be quiet. Absolutely quiet. Talking will distract students and you'll run out of time before any real progress is made.
When a student gets the prompt at the beginning, he or she should respond to that prompt. Make a statement, raise a question, etc.
Afterwards, the student should focus on the statements made by other students. Argue against a statement another student made. Answer a question another student raised. Raise a question about another student's statement.
Wrapping It Up
By the end, each sheet should be covered with a messy web of statements and questions. Now it's time to debrief and share what has been said.
Each pair of students should have a sheet in front of them at the end. Instruct them to look through all of the statements and circle one "gem." What is the most insightful or interesting comment on the page?
Go around and have the students share the gems that they found. Keep discussion brief. You'll be running short on time at this point and it's important to get some sort of closure for the activity.
At the end of the activity, you may want to hang the sheets up on the wall. Students can peruse them at their leisure and see what their classmates wrote. You could also allow students to continue adding to the discussions over the course of a few weeks and re-evaluate them.
Why Use a Silent Discussion?
This is a great technique, but it can be tricky. So why go to all the trouble?
Some students are simply too shy to speak in front of the class. Others don't want to say anything insightful because it might hurt their image. Others are afraid their viewpoint might be unpopular.
The silent discussion solves all of these problems by making the discussion anonymous. No one has to speak or worry about any kind of backlash. Quietly write something on the page and the discussion goes on. Participation rises.
In a discussion, some students shoot out a response right away. Others may take a while to formulate their response. The silent discussion also helps these students because they can take time to think.
They can also backtrack and respond to an earlier part of a discussion, whereas they might have missed their chance to speak on a topic in a regular classroom discussion.
Get some interesting prompts together and give it a go. If your regular classroom discussions have been lackluster, a silent discussion may be just the boost you need.
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