My previous blog post discussed the importance of classroom environment when it comes to engaging and supporting students in UDL. I provided a multitude of examples of how I have tried to enhance the vibes in my classroom this year so that it could help, “minimize threats and distractions, foster collaboration and community, and facilitate personal coping skills and strategies,” for my students. In this post, I will discuss one of my favorite new strategies for making use of this space and helping students learn the crucial communication skills they need to be successful UDL participants. I call this strategy “Casual Conversation,” which is a very literal, unimaginative name for it.
Readers of my two previous UDL blog posts are likely tired of me citing entire paragraphs from the Engagement portion of the UDL Progression Rubric in order to support my assertions, so I am going to try to refrain from doing that wherever possible. I will leave it to you to decide if you would like to review it before proceeding, but I can tell you that there are many instances throughout the rubric in which students are expected to confidently and respectfully express themselves to both their peers and their teacher. As I discussed in my previous post, I feel that a first step to properly behaving and communicating in a classroom environment is to practice doing these things in less formal settings. If a student is incapable of holding a polite, casual conversation with a friend or classmate, what hope do they have of participating in something as formal, structured, and academic as a Socratic Seminar or Literature Circle?
As parents, my wife and I are able to ensure that our children are given ample opportunities to participate in conversations with a wide variety of interlocutors around the dinner table, on car rides, at family get-togethers, and during play dates. Frequently, we either participate in these conversations directly or surreptitiously eavesdrop on them (Don’t pretend you’ve never done this, my fellow parents!). Either way, we use these opportunities to provide our kids with feedback about the strengths and weaknesses of their respective conversation skills. Intentionally or otherwise, we also model what polite conversations look like on a regular basis (I mean, I hope we do…usually). All of these considerations led me to an obvious question: How could I curate similar experiences for my students in class? Here are some things that occurred to me as I began to formulate an answer to this:
I would want my students to practice their conversation skills with a wide variety of peers (By the way, this is actually an advantage that all teachers have over parents: the potential partner combinations are seemingly endless!). I could have each student spend a solid week partnering with every other student in the class. This would mean that, eventually, every student would have spent quality time getting to know every one of their classmates. This would certainly foster a more positive, friendly, and safe classroom environment in which kids would be comfortable working with just about anyone in their class.
Display of weekly partners from a Google Slide presentation
I would want there to be a focus on learning to sustain friendly conversations with peers with whom students would not usually choose to converse regularly. A big emphasis should be put on having a positive attitude when discovering who they are being partnered with and finding ways to be empathetic and kind towards even their least favorite fellow students. I would also like them to learn to find at least one connection to each of their classmates.
I would like to teach conversation skills explicitly but in a low-stakes environment. A quick mini-lesson (perhaps in the form of a video) on a specific skill before the casual conversations begin should do the trick. I could cycle through the same 10-15 skills every 2 or 3 weeks, and the students should be allowed to decide whether they would like to deliberately focus on the daily skill (perhaps it’s already a strength of theirs and they’d prefer to focus on something else).
Skills can include things like: taking turns speaking, active listening, reading facial expressions, keeping personal space, staying on topic, asking questions, and making comments.
I have found some wonderful YouTube videos on conversation skills, including this one on Active Listening.
Partners should be allowed to sit together wherever they want; this is an opportunity for them to use the cushions, blankets, and other alternative seating discussed in my previous blog post.
Some chill music should play quietly in the background (like in a café!).
A daily Google Slide with the skill lesson and other suggestions can be displayed on the Smartboard while the kids chat. A reminder can be posted on the slide to start their Casual Conversations with a friendly greeting and a quick SEL-style check-in to see how their partners are feeling. A list of suggested icebreakers can also be posted, but kids should understand that the icebreakers are only there to support them if they are struggling to generate their own topics of conversation. Additionally, prompts for the kids to show appreciation to their partners and end the conversation with a friendly salutation can be included.
Prompts remind students to greet each other, check in, show appreciation, and end the conversation with a friendly salutation. There are also some Ice Breakers borrowed from our district’s SEL Toolkit.
As you can see, a strategy that seemed almost comically simple when I first conceived of it ended up being far more complex and nuanced than I could have imagined, but it is not an exaggeration to say that it was an obvious success from the moment we first tried it. I was shocked at how quickly my kids embraced Casual Conversation, and their feedback was immediately positive. They now get quite frustrated with me when I do not manage to fit it into our schedule, and this is probably the most meaningful way in which it contributes to the larger goal of improved engagement: It is something my kids look forward to every day, and we all need more of that in our lives!
Writing Every Day,
Eric Lovein
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