Organic discussion: Getting your students to lead the lecture
If your voice is gone after a day of teaching, you're talking too much. Our students are vivacious and lively-why not let them lead the discussion? Students who speak up in class are 1. More likely to retain knowledge 2. Spark conversation and ideas in others 3. Learn how to interact with others 4. Build social skills So how exactly do you spark an organic student discussion? Try a Socratic Circle! Here's our old buddy Socrates himself to introduce us: The Question: A Socratic Seminar opens with a question (posed by the leader). An opening question shouldn't have an obvious right answer-we want discussion! A good opening question helps participants think back to a text as they speculate, evaluate, define, and clarify all the issues involved. Move the group forward by asking more questions-playing devil's advocate. The Leader: The leader plays a dual role as leader and participant-keeping the discussion focused on the text, asking follow-up questions, helping p...