The introverted student that sits in the back whenever possible makes eye contact with you as you speak, nods their head, but never raises their hand or jumps into the discussion. As you teach from the front of the room you wonder what innovative thoughts are constructing in their brain.
Introducing a backchannel into your class can give voice to the introverted students that are always thinking, but not comfortable sharing what they think verbally. I use a backchannel in classroom Socratic Seminars. The backchannel is only available to the outer circle, and allows them to help provoke thoughts and urge conversations further. The quietest of students often offer some of the most thought provoking thinking. As their peers see these thoughts on the backchannel, the introverted student is given acceptance and support, which builds their confidence. I have seen these students find their voice in the backchannel, and they soon transfer their voice to the verbal inner circle.
There are several programs for backchanneling. Today’s Meet is low maintenance and easy to use for all devices. Teaching in a BYOD school, my students often used their phones as devices. Padlet is a good program to backchannel during group work or small group discussions. It allows the students to add videos, articles, images and comments. This can be valuable to sharing the great ideas from smaller break out groups, and it makes these ideas useful to the whole class.
If you lecture, or show videos, a backchannel is a way for students to mentally stay engaged while they are needing to silently be listening. This allows their thoughts to process the information being provided to them, but the back channel allows them to be critically thinking about what is provided.
The primary benefit to adding a backchannel is to provide your students choices. It allows you to see inside their heads and discover those amazing ideas they are creating while they sit quietly and listen to the discussions around them.
Introducing a backchannel into your class can give voice to the introverted students that are always thinking, but not comfortable sharing what they think verbally. I use a backchannel in classroom Socratic Seminars. The backchannel is only available to the outer circle, and allows them to help provoke thoughts and urge conversations further. The quietest of students often offer some of the most thought provoking thinking. As their peers see these thoughts on the backchannel, the introverted student is given acceptance and support, which builds their confidence. I have seen these students find their voice in the backchannel, and they soon transfer their voice to the verbal inner circle.
There are several programs for backchanneling. Today’s Meet is low maintenance and easy to use for all devices. Teaching in a BYOD school, my students often used their phones as devices. Padlet is a good program to backchannel during group work or small group discussions. It allows the students to add videos, articles, images and comments. This can be valuable to sharing the great ideas from smaller break out groups, and it makes these ideas useful to the whole class.
If you lecture, or show videos, a backchannel is a way for students to mentally stay engaged while they are needing to silently be listening. This allows their thoughts to process the information being provided to them, but the back channel allows them to be critically thinking about what is provided.
The primary benefit to adding a backchannel is to provide your students choices. It allows you to see inside their heads and discover those amazing ideas they are creating while they sit quietly and listen to the discussions around them.