From the first day of the institute, the other fellows and I have been on brain overload. We have been listening, taking notes, recording, taking pictures, tweeting, posting to Facebook and writing quotes...all in one session.
What I have loved the most about Steve, and even Alan today, is even though he is cramming our brains with great information, we need a little bit of time to decompress.
Enter the two minute drill: a time when we talked to each other and answered questions in regard to what information was previously covered. There is nice Muzak (you see that Steve?) in the background and we can bounce ideas and best practices off each other. When the buzzer goes off after 2 minutes, Steve gives people the option to call out something good they heard from their partner.
I will definitely use this in the classroom to get students to interact and to also talk about the materials we covered. With the timer set, students don't have time to get too far off track and get distracted, I hope!
Even Alan's five minute discussion, was really great because we had time to go into an in depth conversations with our partners!
Divona Phillips
Irving High School
Irving, Texas
These drills are helpful. I wonder how it will play out in my classroom. We as teachers are professional and eager to talk with each other, but I have trouble getting my shy students to engage with each other. I don't want to attach a grade to it, but I need to come up with an incentive for students to share.
ReplyDeleteGood blog post. Thanks!
Becca Hargis
Campbell High School
Smyrna, GA
The two-minute drill is an amazing opportunity to take in ideas of others and share what I feel could help someone else. I will definitely be using this practice in my classes. It is also developmentally appropriate for students who need that talk-time in order to get a break from listening to me.
ReplyDeleteAngela Hobart
Starkville High School