{"id":35,"date":"2015-11-21T02:55:03","date_gmt":"2015-11-21T02:55:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/viviennekraus\/?p=35"},"modified":"2015-11-21T03:32:17","modified_gmt":"2015-11-21T03:32:17","slug":"talking-stick-2-0","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/viviennekraus\/2015\/11\/21\/talking-stick-2-0\/","title":{"rendered":"Talking Stick 2.0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Well I\u2019ve gone and done it. I\u2019ve tried the first of three co-operative structures to encourage discussion in my FSL classroom. I\u2019ve selected these from\u00a0Kagan Cooperative Learning<\/em> by Dr. Spencer Kagan and Miguel Kagan. Thank you to\u00a0@Think_teach for pointing me in this direction!<\/p>\n

This strategy is called \u201cTalking chips\u201d. I\u2019ve referred to it as a talking stick, version 2.0, since everyone gets 2 sticks to start. Here is a brief explanation of my use of this strategy:<\/p>\n

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  1. Students receive a maximum of 2 \u2018chips\u2019 each.<\/li>\n
  2. When a student talks, they put a chip in the centre of their group of desks.<\/li>\n
  3. Students can only talk if they have a chip.<\/li>\n
  4. No chips left? Wait until everyone has placed their chips in the centre and start again.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    In my Gr. 12 class, I presented brief videos about current events, and then provided the discussion questions. I used\u00a0Popsicle sticks since I didn\u2019t want coins\/tokens to turn into a game of penny football. Besides, I already had them on hand.<\/p>\n

    Here is a picture of my classroom set up. Luckily the teacher I share the classroom with is very open to this arrangement.\u00a0Kagan suggests that \u201c[t]eams of four are ideal. They allow pair work, which doubles active participation, and open twice as many lines of communication compared to teams of three\u201d.<\/p>\n

    \"Kagan<\/a><\/p>\n

    Student feedback was positive (1-2 thumbs up from everyone!), as they all had the chance to speak and felt that there was accountability. One student commented that he didn\u2019t know how much time they had to speak, so I\u2019ve since posted an online counter to help with this: http:\/\/www.online-stopwatch.com\/countdown-timer\/. \u00a0Also, some groups ended early; I had forgotten to mention they could each take 2 sticks back and continue speaking.<\/p>\n

    Questions for reflection. Or hey, if you have any solutions, let me know\u2026<\/p>\n