Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Sharing Student Reflections in a Debrief Circle



Are you working on your closures, but getting thoroughly sick of exit slips?  A fun closure strategy is the Debrief Circle, demonstrated here in this Teaching Channel video from Expeditionary Learning (note: you may have to create an account to watch the full video).

In this two minute-video, the teacher has her students form two circles, one inside the other, each with the same number of students. The students face one another; each holds written responses to reflection questions. When the teacher calls time, the students share with the person directly across from them the answer to the first question.  One circle then rotates, so that students now have new partners, and they then discuss the second question.  In the video, the teacher has students answer four questions:

  • What would you have changed in the lab you did?
  • What did you notice?
  • What did you wonder?
  • What did it mean to meet the learning target?
While the video doesn't show this, the teacher could take notes on what he/she hears, and use those notes either as a quick summary at the end of the period or to have students share specific targeted responses with the large group.

This would be a creative way for students to reflect, to practice their communication skills, and to deepen their understanding of the topic!

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