Equitable Classroom Talk Time: 3 Easy Strategies that Work!
Picture this: you're in class, students are discussing a prompt or idea in pairs and then sharing with the class, but every time you ask someone to share with the class it's the same 4 or 5 students. Those
students are clearly engaged, learning and developing their communication skills... but what about the rest? Over my 15 years as a secondary school teacher I have tried many different strategies to deal with this issue and have landed upon a few good ones and one in particular that I love. It is my goal in this blog post to share my top 3 strategies and evaluate each. It is my hope that this helps get the ball rolling and more students talking in your classrooms.
Strategy #1: Popsicle Sticks (My fav!)
This strategy is an oldie, but a goodie. For the first 10 or so years of my teaching career I didn't use any intentional equitable classroom talk strategies in my lessons; I built them into activities like debates or presentations, but not lessons. It was while teaching in Morocco that I realized that I wanted a way to easily make sure that I was truly being random when calling upon students and to track which students had already spoken in class. My mind went immediately to using a random number generator or some sort of App, but I decided to go with something old fashioned... with so many devices to manage already and an internet connection that was pretty good, but not always reliable I decided it was best to go analog... hence the popsicle sticks.
This is a very simple tool to use, you just have a cup (or beaker) for each class you teach and in each cup place a popsicle stick with each student's name on it. I like to paint one end of the popsicle stick a specific colour for each class so there is no risk of them getting mixed up between classes. Then just keep them close to where you would use them when teaching and randomly draw students names whenever you would like someone to answer or share an idea in class. I like to keep my popsicle sticks lined up on the desk throughout the lesson so that the same student won't get called on again (unless I run out of sticks in a small class).
Pros:
Easy to use, no daily prep
Students can understand how you are calling on them and that it is random, so they see it as "fair"
Can easily be used by a substitute teacher
Students can use them during presentations or student-led activities
Parents can easily understand how this works
It works from the very first day of school when you don't know everyone's name yet
Cons:
Takes a chunk of time to prepare at the beginning of the year/semester (especially if you want to paint them)
You can't choose who to call upon
You need to remember to update the sticks if students leave or enter the class
Some students find it stressful (once I find out who those students are I find a way to warn them that their turn is next)
Strategy #2: Funny "Who" statements
I am a teacher who loves to use humour to manage my classroom; it helps keeps students alert
and helps to build those critical student-teacher relationships. One way to call on students randomly is to insert a "who statement" into your lesson notes or slides. If you want to keep it analog you could alternatively write these on a slip of paper and put them in a cup to draw one whenever you like in the lesson or activity. These can be a great way to get to know your students and for them to share something about themselves besides their academic side.
Here are some fun "who statements" you can use:
Who was the last person to come to a test without a pen or pencil?
Who was the last person to talk to their pet as if it understood them?
Who was the last to pull on a 'push' door?
Who was the first person to learn how to cook a complete meal?
Who was the last person to eat peanut butter?
Who has the shortest name in this class?
Who was the last person to get to class today?
Who was the last to fall asleep in a really weird place?
Who has a birthday closest to today?
Who was the last to completely forget why they walked into a room?
Who was the last person who ate french fries?
Who was the last person to meet someone new?
Who was the last person to score a point (in any sport)?
Who was the last person to hear their own voice on a recording and cringe?
Who was the last person to pet a cat?
Who has the most unread emails in their school account right now?
Who was the first person to learn to ride a bike?
Who was the last person to forget their water bottle in a classroom?
Who most recently had an autocorrect fail in a text message?
Who has the longest name in this class?
Who was the last person to eat a cookie?
Who was the last person to go to KTV?
Who was the first person to learn to swim?
Who was the last person to leave campus yesterday?
Who was the first person to get to class today?
Pros:
Helps to build community in your classroom
Creates discussion between students
Helps students see what they have in common
Are applicable to any student
Can easily be customized to your school, city and events in your area
It works from the very first day of school when you don't know everyone's name yet
Cons:
Can lead to distractions during a lesson
Doesn't guarantee that students will not be "called upon" repeatedly
Can require more prep time as repeating the same statements too often removes the fun
Cultural sensitivity is key here
Strategy #3: Talking Stick ( or Tardigrade)
A classic strategy to manage classroom discussions which I began to use as a camp counsellor back in the day is the use of a talking stick. Just in case you haven't heard of this before, it is a stick (often painted or decorated in some way) that a person must hold in order to talk in a group setting. This means that only the person who has the stick is allowed to talk (although in many cases this applies only to the students or campers, not the teacher or instructor). After a few years I have moved on from sticks to stuffed animals, so that students can throw or toss the "talking stick" to their classmates. I tend to use this strategy alongside my popsicle sticks for small group more flexible discussions, such as during advisory.
A few years ago when in Amsterdam I went to the Microbe Museum (what else is a science teacher to do? ;) and I was so excited to find stuffed tardigrades (or water bears) in their gift shop. I have found these organisms fascinating for so long and I had to get a mini one for my classroom. I keep it by my desk and we use it as the "talking tardigrade" whenever we need to be sure to take turns during a discussion. In order to ensure that everyone gets a chance to talk I ask for a volunteer to share their idea or perspective first and then they must toss the tardigrade to a classmate to continue the discussion. Students cannot share twice before the entire group has spoken. Since the tardigrade is small and soft it is ok if students miss a toss and it adds a bit of fun to the discussion.
Pros:
Zero prep, just have an object (ideally a soft one) that can be used
Students decide who talks
Everyone gets to participate
Prevents cross talk
Adds some fun to the discussion
Cons:
Students will tend to toss to their friends first
You have no control over who talks when
Some students can be embarrassed if they aren't good at catching or tossing
Ensuring that all students have a chance to speak is an important part of classroom management and one that every teacher must master. In my experience a mix of these three strategies works best, each for a specific situation. I hope that you find this post helpful and that you get some fun discussions going in your class soon.
Thanks for reading teachers, travellers and curious souls of all kinds.
The Roaming Scientist
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