Dialogue Builds Depth: Increasing Student-to-Student Collaboration
“Dialogue builds depth. The more our students can talk to one another about what they are learning, the more they will learn.” I remember hearing this information at a professional development during my third year of teaching. After the facilitator supported this theory by having us engage us in a variety of independent and collaborative work tasks, I was convinced!
When I began using Edcite this year, I often found myself asking, “How do I use Edcite and dialogue in conjunction with one another?” Also, I currently have one computer for every two students. Thus, there was an even greater need to create ways to use Edcite in pairs. Although some moments were clunky, below are a few ways I have found that help maintain a high level of rigor with Edcite assignments and build a depth of understanding with dialogue. For more resources on general classroom dialogue check out this website: http://www.talkinginclass.com/
Read on to see different options for increasing student collaboration!
- Option 1: Individually respond. Collaboratively Respond.
- Option 2: Individually answer Part A. Collectively analyze and explain.
- Option 3: Alternate answering questions.
- Option 4: Partner A dictates answer to Partner B. Partner B nonverbally encourages or discourages. Rotate.
- Option 5: Start Timer. Partner A writes for 60 seconds. Partner B picks up where Partner A left off. Writes for 60 seconds. Rotate.
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