The new school year is literally right around the corner for me…like less than a week away. This is the time of year that I go into my classroom to “work” and find myself typing at the computer for a few minutes, then changing something on a bulletin board, then mindlessly picking up scraps on the floor and really not getting anything accomplished. Please tell me I’m not the only teacher that does this!!
In the few minutes I spent typing today, I came up with a Discussion Board Procedures handout that will go in my discuss with students pile on the first few days of school.
Why you ask? This FORCES students to participate in discussions!
I’m sure I’ve said this before, but I was that student who sat in the front of the classroom, who did her homework every night, but said NOTHING. I HATED to be called on and DESPISED having to participate in classroom discussions. Discussion boards are perfect for this type of student, because they can somewhat freely “discuss” their thoughts and opinions behind a virtual wall…which can be good and bad at the same time!
I’ve found that discussion boards can prevent students from sitting back and letting the outgoing students overtake the class conversation. I realized this during my graduate work…which was completed online. I’ll be honest, there were days when I was too tired from taking care of my two young daughters and teaching full time that I didn’t do the assigned readings. Eek! There was no slumping down in my desk trying to avoid making eye contact with the teacher, though! I had to buckle down, read the material, and do the work…if I wanted to earn the points, which of course I did!
I’ll be adding the Discussion Board Procedures printable to my Printables page, and will be adding discussion board topics soon.
Thanks for reading 🙂
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