TARA provides educators with 50+ virtual teaching/learning activities and resources. This blog post is about the need to create and implement authentic virtual learning experiences for students in wake of COVID-19 social distancing precautions and how to adapt an in-person student activity to fit a virtual classroom.
Have you ever finished teaching what you thought to be a well-planned lesson to look up at a classroom full of confused faces? Or, did you give an exit ticket to test students’ understanding of the content and learned that a majority of the class had no idea what you were talking about? After further reflection (and frustration) you probably came to the understanding that you forgot to do two major things during this lesson: (1) check for understanding and (2) provide an opportunity for students to collaborate and learn from each other. One of my favorite tools to break up the monotony of a modeled lesson while also checking for understanding and allowing for collaboration is a Think-Pair-Share!
Think-Pair-Share is a collaborative learning strategy where students have the opportunity to work with peers to solve problems, answer questions, and gain clarity about a topic. This simple, yet effective strategy encourages high levels of participation and engagement. During the process, there are three simple steps that students take. After posing a question or providing students with a problem to solve, they should:
Think: Students will first think about their own understanding of the topic. This is their individual opportunity to gather their thoughts before collaborating.
Pair: Next, students will work with a partner or small group to discuss their ideas. During this time, the teacher will listen and probe students to ensure that their conversations are productive.
Share: Finally, pairs or groups will be able to share their responses with each other or to the entire class.
But, wait! How do I implement this in a virtual classroom? No, worries. Think-Pair-Share is a strategy that can easily be modified for distance learning!
How to Plan & Implement a Virtual Think-Pair-Share:
Before implementing the strategy, make sure your virtual set-up is planned & ready to go. Know what platform students will be using as well as how these platforms work. Consider using Zoom or Google Meet! These are great tools for students to collaborate using the breakout room feature.
Step 1: Provide a question or topic.
Pose a question or provide a topic that requires students to think critically. It is often beneficial to pose questions that reinforce a topic or skill that was covered during a modeled lesson or through a text that was read.
Step 2: Give students independent think time.
Give students at least 2-5 minutes to think about the question or topic. They need to be able to think through ideas so they can add to the conversation. While they are thinking, it might be helpful to provide a resource for them to record their thoughts.
Step 3: Create pairs or groups.
Use breakout rooms to put students into pairs or groups so they can collaborate and bounce ideas off of each other. You can choose to assign groups manually or automatically depending on how you want students placed.
Step 4: Monitor Discussion.
Once students are in their breakout rooms, you can hop from room to room to check for understanding and ask guiding questions to probe thinking. You can also use the chat feature to send out mass messages to all breakout rooms.
Step 5: Facilitate a Share-out.
After breakout discussions have ended, students will automatically return to the original video meeting. This is when you can ask guiding questions to check for understanding, address misconceptions, and review responses.
Other Things to Consider:
#1 - Model Tech Features: Some students may struggle to use the technology correctly and effectively. To avoid confusion, spend time at the beginning of the video meeting modeling how to use video/platform features (Raise Your Hand, Chat, etc).
#2 - Visible Instructions: Be sure to provide students with detailed instructions/troubleshooting tips that they can read and reference during the activity. Posting instructions to Google Classroom or sharing a Google Slides presentation will ensure that students are clear what they are expected to do.
#3 - Time-Management: It is important to keep track of time. For each portion of the Think-Pair-Share, make sure students are aware of the given time frame. Create a custom time limit for breakout sessions and give students a 2 minute warning via the chat feature!
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