"Stand and talk" activity

Submitted by Susan Jones on Mon, 04/30/2018 - 18:04
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https://saravanderwerf.com/2017/08/09/stand-talks-the-best-thing-i-ever-did-to-get-students-talking-to-one-another/     

As somebody who really struggled with the details of managing classroom activities, this explanation for structuring "talk about this with another student" so that it actually works amazes me :) 

Comments

Hello Susan, and others

I love this Stand and Talk blog article. Thanks for sharing it. I wonder if Stand and Talk, a great modification of a Think/Pair/Share strategy,  could be adapted for use by  adult ESOL/ESL teachers, reading and writing teachers, and teachers who integrate technology in whatever they are teaching. For example, I could see adult learners in a computer lab, or who nearly all have portable digital devices in a classroom,  who: 1) stand, 2) find a partner to share a screen with, 3) go to a landing page whose web address they have all been given, and 4) who have been given questions to answer about it to discuss and answer and 5) share the questions and answers, orally or possibly on a Google Doc or other group writing tool. Perhaps each pair could be given two questions, and there could be different sets of questions.This activity might take a little longer than a typical Stand and Talk, and after standing to find a partner, it would probably be sitting, looking at the same web page, talking about the questions and looking for answers together. Sharing what each pair should be interesting to all the learners since they have all studies the same web page, even though the pairs might have been given different questions about it. I might use  a "fake news" web page or a product-promoting web page disguised as a news report, without specifically mentioning what kind of web page this was, but where my questions focused on investigating the quality of the information, such as: 1) Who sponsors this web page? 2) Do the authors have a bias? If so, what is it? How do you know? 3) Are any sources cited? If so, are they sources you can trust? How do you know? 4) Are there ads on this page? If so, what kind? Is the main purpose of this page to sell a product or products? How do you know?

I would be interested to hear others' reactions to the Stand and Talk modification of a Think/Pair/Share strategy? Have you already done this? Was it effective? If not, do you plan to try it? If so, let us know what you did and how it worked. It seems like the sort of strategy that would work immediately but become more effective over time as the teacher and students get used to it. Your thoughts?

David J. Rosen, Moderator

LINCS CoP Ingtegrating Technology group

 

 

 

I'm a huge fan of Sara Vanderwerf's blog, and so I had read this too.  I don't currently have enough students to make it work, but I have used it in PD.  It works as written.  I used it a COABE this year, so maybe someone can tell us what the experience was like for them as the learner. 

[Not every experience has gone as smoothly ... I tried to use it at a state conference and the room was so crowded, that I learned that participants not only couldn't get out of their aisle, they couldn't even stand behind their chairs!]

Hi all,

I was in Connie's workshop at COABE. I really enjoyed the activity for a few reasons. It forced me to articulate some of what I was thinking and try to understand another person's approach. It separated me from my table, where the conversation had faltered a little bit. It gave me new energy. I appreciated the jolt it gave to our group. We often get stuck in routines with where we sit, who we talk to and what we talk about. This forced everyone to talk to someone new.

I haven't used the activity with students yet, but I've used in a couple workshops with teachers. It has worked really well both times. The teachers talked to someone they hadn't met yet, the conversations were lively through the full 3-4 minutes we gave them, and people were refreshed with new ideas when they came back to their seats. This is about as much as we can hope for from a pair/share, and it often doesn't happen, for the reason Sara shares in her posts. I'm a big fan.

Though you could certainly try the activity in different ways, I don't plan to make any changes. Adding more work to the task might make it tedious. Sara recommends doing it every class period. If we are going to use it regularly, it should be simple and end fairly quickly. I'm using it as is.

Eric

Yeah, I like this idea of using it in PD, too. This would be a good way to introduce it to instructors and show how it can work. I have a PD meeting with instructors in a few weeks. 

I definitely can see this working in other subjects. I teach ABE/ASE and one item I've already brought into the classroom is infographics. This would be a great item to handout to pairs. There are so many different infographics by subject out there that you could find a few different ones for whatever you are going to discuss in class. Sounds like a good way to kickstart the discussion. 

I also teach college composition and I'm always trying to get them up and moving around/talking to each other (my summer semester is four hours long!). I'm going to think about how I can integrate this into all my classrooms. I'm teaching elements of rhetoric next week, so maybe I can find some pictures that illustrate these elements. 

Thanks for this thread!

Stephanie

I absolutely LOVE this idea!!  I have small classes in ESL, two classes of adult students. I am definitely going to incorporate this into my classroom activities. I have to often encourage my students not to speak in their native language. By doing this, they would be paired with another student not from their country and will need to converse in English!  Wonderful!!

Some say that when we are talking, we are learning; others, like Lyndon B. Johnson, claim quite the contrary. I tend to agree with the first position, adding that when we are talking thoughtfully about something, we are learning.

The authors of Content-Area Conversations (2008) summarize their Chapter 1, "Why Talk Is Important in Classrooms,"  as follows:

"As we analyze why many students are not learning what we are teaching, we must evaluate our own practice for evidence of student talk throughout the day. Oral language is the foundation of literacy, and as such, it requires focused attention in planning. Altering the ratio of teacher to student talk doesn't just happen. Rather, it occurs through both believing in the importance of student talk and planning with a clear purpose and expectations." 

Sounds like it would be useful to have stand-and-talk activities be part of that planning. Leecy

So I've used Stand and Talk in three classes the last couple weeks and enjoyed using it. My students enjoyed it too. When I hoovered around the room to listen to their discussions, I heard really interesting things. It also just seemed to wake them up. For one class, we were talking about writing introductions so I had students discuss a cartoon that I projected on the board. I also had students ask each other two questions and introduce themselves. I plan to pepper where and how I use Stand and Talk, but I'm really pleased with it so far. 

Thanks for telling us how Stand and Talk is working in your class, Stephanie.It's good to hear this is working well for you. I, for one, have long been convinced that engaging in talk is essential for learning. I believe that it is  also important to give individuals time to think for a bit before asking them to talk. Pair conversations, rather than larger group conversations, are valuable, too, especially for people who are introverted.

I'm curious about Leecy's previous comment about Lyndon Johnson taking a contrary position. Could you tell us more about that, Leecy?

Cheers, Susan Finn Miller

Moderator, Teaching & Learning CoP

 

:))))) Susan et al, I just ran into this Lyndon Johnson quote and thought I would reference it, a bit tongue in check. Here are threef links about that. Thought they were amusing.

Leecy

I have used this strategy in professional development that I have provided to K-12 teachers and administrators.  I think it's a valuable tool to get them talking to people outside of their comfort zone.  One thing I found helpful is having a way to get everyone's attention when you need it and letting the learners know what that signal will be ahead of time.  I have had a timer on the projector that makes a noise when time's up or played 15 seconds of music when I needed them to wrap up the conversation.

Here's something else to think about if you're using this strategy daily.  If you always have them talk to people of their choice, they will find one person that they're comfortable with (likely the person they paired up with the first time you did stand and talk with them).  Sometimes this is good because they will share with that person if they are confused, but sometimes you want them to experience some one else's view point and ideas.  You can force them to talk to different people by assigning them a partner using different strategies:  pull a name out of a hat (have them write their name on a card and keep them for the duration of the course), work with someone that sits at a specific table, work with someone who has the same color of hair, eyes, or shoes as you do, etc., number them off (1-12 from one side of the room & 1-12 from the other side - then find your partner), put colored index cards on their tables and have them choose one and then find another person with that card, use a random generator that will create pairs for you, etc.