I’ll never understand how my students can be wild, crazy, dancing, laughing, snap chatting everyone and their momma, AND disrupting class every five minutes, BUT the mere thought of public speaking leaves them in tears. I know that many students have a simple case of nerves about getting up in front of a group of their peers, but for others the fear is all-consuming.
Speaking and listening skills are a crucial part of not only the standards that I have to teach, but also an integral part of being a successful person. How will my students ever propose a project in the business world or simply ask their boss for a raise if they are too fearful to speak in front of others?
Over the past few years, I’ve tried to develop a system to scaffold public speaking so that my flock isn’t pushed off into the deep end when they haven’t yet learned the public speaking doggy paddle.
I’m constantly looking for fresh ideas to empower students and build confidence in public speaking skills, but here’s how I currently build up to more daunting tasks such as project presentations and argumentative speech sessions.
- Modified Small Group Socratic Seminar
My student teacher actually gave me the idea to modify Socratic seminars! This concept is very simple but it packs a lot of punch. I wrote a list of open-ended questions that didn’t have a particularly RIGHT answer, but multiple answers that could be defended with textual evidence. Here’s an example of my question list for one of my FAVORITES: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.
I’ve also found really great open-ended questions by simply rewording a prompt from the AP Literature exam. I’ll hand out this list of questions to students 1-2 days before I’m planning to have a Socratic seminar. This way, even the most guarded students have time to prepare for the exact questions that will be presented to them. On the day of the seminar, I’ll place students in small groups of 5-6 each. I’ll then assign around 5 questions at random to each group. I’ll describe how a seminar works, then I’ll have them track their own speaking and evaluate their ideas as a reflective piece after the seminar concludes. I’ll give the students about 30-35 minutes to discuss the questions within their small groups. I also give them time after their discussion to complete the reflective piece. I always have the students evaluate themselves first – this way, it takes some of the pressure off AND you would be surprised at how honest they’ll really be about their performance!
The following day, I’ll introduce a whole group Socratic seminar with the SAME questions. This way, I know that many of the students have already formulated ideas about the topics AND they’ll feel more confident going into a whole group discussion after having discussed as a small group. They were able to bounce ideas off of one another and hopefully grow their reasoning and reflective answers. I also assign students a partner to keep up with their speaking, ideas, etc. After the seminar, both partners get together to discuss the strengths and growth areas that they observed with the other partner.
2. Use Padlet.com to give students a chance to collaborate and discuss while still being able to edit. Padlet.com is basically a virtual bulletin board. I’ve also heard teachers call it a virtual graffiti wall. A teacher can set up a Padlet wall to be used as a constant “feed” of text, a pinboard, etc. Students can add their own ideas, comment on the posts of others (if the teacher enables the feature), and they can even use it as a space for collaborative research. Even my most reluctant speakers are able to use this tool as a way to find their voice and be confident enough to “speak” through their posts. The students are able to see the other posts on the wall and learn from one another. They are still speaking their thoughts on literature/topics but in an environment where they can type, proofread, edit, and try again before posting. Here are some examples of a few different ways that I’ve used this tool in my own classroom.
3. Use FlipGrid.com to have students practice public speaking in a less scary environment. I know ya’ll remember me singing the FlipGrid praises back in this post If you haven’t read up on FlipGrid yet, their tagline is actually “empower every voice.” How cool is that? Flipgrid is basically a way to facilitate connections and interactions through short, recorded videos. Here’s a screengrab from the example on Flipgrid’s website:
As a teacher, I can pose a question to my students (either written or recorded) and they can “respond” by video. They can also respond to other students’ videos as well! I also love the fact that Flipgrid gives a time limit for videos so students have to be concise with their answers. This is a great way to not only differentiate learning for my students who struggle with test-taking (Like I do!), but it also helps all students practice becoming confident in their ideas and comfortable with their own voices without having to literally stand up in front of people. Not to mention – I just really love the emojis, stickers, etc. that come with the program to jazz up your videos!
Every week, I give my students an assignment to choose an article of their liking, complete a standards-based writing assignment with it, then post about their findings on Flip Grid! I also like to add in a fun task to their video like: tell me your favorite ice cream flavor or if you could be any animal what would you be and why? This way, students can edit and re-edit their videos before posting them. They are actually public speaking but in a much safer environment. A lot of my students were reluctant about this concept at first, but now they’ve come to settle in and some of them have incorporated their pets or their siblings into their videos. It. Is. Precious!
I’m planning on continuing with this three-step process throughout the semester and ending with a bang when we put together a research project on diverse literature that requires the students to create, collaborate, and finally present in front of the entire class. I am hopeful that by scaffolding the public speaking process, I can help alleviate some nerves and help grow my students into confident, empowered speakers who understand the value of their own voice.
What are some ways that you scaffold public speaking or incorporate the speaking and listening standards into your own classroom?
