Mike’s Blog
Strategies, Ideas and Insights for Teachers and Leaders
Tag: discussion techniques
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The Discussion Toolkit – Free Resource
Weave Effective, Structured Discussion Opportunities into Any Lesson Viewed and Downloaded 140,000+ Times by Teachers Around the World 🎯 Key discussion strategies explained in simple, practical language. 🎯 Suitable for…
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Call on the power of oracy and differentiate activity planning in your lessons through structured and meaningful discussion
General Introduction This blog is part of my Differentiation and Adaptive Teaching Knowledge Base. I use the terms differentiation and adaptive teaching synonymously. To me, they are the same, as…
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Why is assigning group roles a gamechanger for improving the quality of classroom discussion?
One of the difficulties inherent to group discussion is the teacher’s ceding of control. This can result in learners using the opportunity to talk socially or do no work. Another…
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How does ‘wait time’ change the impact of every question you ask, creating better answers in any lesson?
In many situations, teachers encourage learners to take their time: All these comments are intended to help learners understand that taking a little longer and going a little slower often…
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Understand how skilled teachers use ground rules to bring discussion to life and make it work for all their learners
Life is governed by rules. As adults we implicitly know, acknowledge, and act in accordance with these. Many learners make the complaint that school life is riddled with rules. An…
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Six ways you can take what learners say and use it to improve the quality of the discussions you have with them
One of the assessments a teacher must make during any discussion activity is when to intervene and, particularly, when to do things with what learners say. Often, the best option…
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Half a dozen simple ways to capture progress when using discussion to develop learners’ oracy skills
It is a commonly held criticism of discussion that, as a teaching device, it lacks the all-important ability to capture progress. Someone coming into a classroom in which discussion has…
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Why planning a non-verbal discussion for your learners might just change how you make sense of your classroom
Usually, discussion involves talking. Two or more people speak to each other, usually with the intention of sharing ideas, debating an issue, or thinking together about a question. But a…
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Discover the five key areas of philosophy any teacher can use to transform discussion in their lessons
Philosophy is a difficult subject to define. Its nature has changed over time. Things that were previously central to it are now recognised as disciplines of their own (for example,…
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Is there a right level of control teachers need when using discussion to develop oracy in their classroom?
When we’re using discussion in the classroom, we need to decide how much control we want. There are four areas to think about when deciding on the right level of…