Many of the teachers I have spoken with, whether teaching remotely or in-person, have expressed their frustration with the lack of willingness among their students to participate in class discussions. A recent blog post from instructional coach Dr. Caitlin Tucker helps address this concern with concrete steps teachers can take before, during, and after the activity for more productive student engagement.
Before: Preparing for Online Discussions
create and share a planning document in advance of the conversation
prepare a slide deck with your discussion questions
During: Facilitating Online Discussions
establish communication norms
employ facilitation skills to keep the conversation moving
After: Wrapping Up Online Discussions
engage students in a post-discussion reflection
ask students to assess their engagement and participation
Please take a moment to read the full article via this link as Dr. Tucker shares planning documents, a slide deck template for sharing discussion questions, sample communication norms, and post-discussion reflection documents. If you are on Twitter, consider following Caitlin Tucker for more outstanding instructional resources: https://twitter.com/Catlin_Tucker
Did you know you can facilitate a synchronous online discussion using nothing more than Google Slides and Zoom? Check out the video below to learn how to use Google Slides' Audience Tools.
