In her middle school Spanish classes, Katie McMahon has tried two things that she says she needs to use more often to help ALL group members speak: 1. I gave students a half sheet of paper and some bingo chips. The paper had 2 columns and in Spanish said "I need to speak more" and "I'm talking a lot" - all the bingo chips started on the left and as they contributed to the conversation they moved the chips to the right. They were encouraged to continue talking even after they used all their chips, but it was a great system for students to visually see who they should "invite" directly to the conversation so that they could get all group members to move all their chips over. 2. These nomination cards "assign" who is next to speak during a small group conversation so no one student will dominate the conversation. Continue reading about Nomination Cards here!
Thank you for sharing, Katie! This year I have done a lot of reading and reflecting on my practice. I have read over and over again the importance of letting go and giving kids control. Now, that being said, anyone who knows me knows I have a little issue with wanting control of situations. I like things in order. One friend refers to me as being very linear. My desk is neat and everything has its place. Giving up control is difficult for me, but one thing my husband always reminds me is it’s not about us, it’s about our students. So the past 2 years I began slowly giving up control. It started with our class seating and station choices........ Want to read more? Visit Meagan Parrish's original blog post from July 1, 2017 here: I didn't know Gen Reinheimer before Shift This came out. She was one of my earliest readers and she is suddenly my biggest cheerleader! She'll be moving from elementary to middle school soon (the students are just bigger, right?!), so wish her well by reading her blog post and keeping the conversation going about creating a mission statement, using edcafes, and changing grading habits. Her post is here:
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