Time needed: 5 min
Why? Students will be supported to discuss and invent own ideas together with friends, they will also be able to discover questions which they never would ask in front of the class.
When? After a duration of taught topics this method can be perfect to discover undiscovered questions and to repeat absorbed knowledge.
How? After a taught topic the students will get the possibility to talk and discuss with the neighbour or friends in small groups about the taught topic from the last lesson or duration. It is possible to give them the aim to write down several questions about the topic in that small group, which will be discussed later in front of the class.
Any risks? Teachers have to deal after asking questions, often with an embarrassing silence. Students don’t like to stand alone in front of the class with unclear problems, but in smaller groups with friends, they don’t have that problem, they will openly ask if they recognise that there is something not clear also for their own friends. To ask a question together is often easier then alone.
If teachers work more often with that method, the private conversations which are not welcome in class will be less, because they will get the chance to talk in that circles privately which is forcing also the braveness to ask suddenly questions to the topic. It is also a very relaxing situation, because the teachers allows students to talk. The pressure of looking for chances for these private conversations inside class will leave. Situations of concentration will be not disturbed from private forbidden secret conversations anymore.
