Group Discussion With Talking Chips: Another Equity Pedagogical Practice that Should Be Modeled by the Mentor and Implemented by the Mentee

To give each student a chance to participate in classroom discussion, and mitigate against the teacher selecting his or her favorite students to respond, The Discussion Ball should be modeled by the mentor and utilized by the mentee. Here is how this equity pedagogical practice can be implemented.

Materials Needed: Each member of the class or small discussion group has a talking chip (e.g. a pen, a pencil, a crayon, a checker, etc.).

The members of the class or small discuss group are engaged in a structured exchange of information. The rule for sharing information is as follows: a student may make a statement or raise a question only after she has placed her talking chip in the center of the table or the front of her desk . Members may not share additional information until the chips of the other members have been placed in the center of the table or front of their desk. If a student chooses not to speak, he must place his chip in the center of the table or front of his desk and say, "I pass." Members then retrieve their chips after all have spoken or passed.

On the next post we will discuss another equity pedagogical practice, The Numbers Method.