Spotlight on Strategies: Partner Time
Even though there is always a mind-boggling amount of invaluable info shared on the Discovery Educator Network (DEN), one of the best resources available is the Spotlight on Strategies (S.O.S) series, a must-see DEN favorite designed to provide teachers with simple yet effective instructional practices for using digital content to support student learning.
To date, there are 70+ teacher tried and tested strategies featured on the DEN blog and now thanks to Lance Rougeux, Vice President of Learning Communities and Educational Consultants at Discovery Education and all-around DEN tech guru, I am now featuring some of these techniques on my space. Two thumbs up to this guy!
So, enough of that. Let’s fast forward to the really good stuff…
This week’s spotlight—Partner Time—is a simple yet effective way to manage partnerships in your classroom. It also ensures that students are not always sharing with the same classmate.
Big Idea
When students have the opportunity to discuss and compare ideas and opinions with a wide variety of their peers, they develop a broader understanding of the world and are more flexible and creative in their problem-solving.
That said, the Partner Time concept allows teachers to establish partnerships in advance; therefore, eliminating the management and guesswork when grouping students. Doing so, leaves more time to accomplish academic goals while also providing students with the opportunity to have choice with whom they work.
Now that I have your attention, all you have to do is click here to snag a PDF version of this super cool strategy which includes info related to materials needed and step-by-step instructions for utilizing the Partner Time strategy in the classroom.
There’s even a video overview you can check out here. Pretty cool, eh?
And last, but certainly not least, here’s a visual to get those wheels turning…
Better yet—click here to check out the entire S.O.S. series on the DEN blog!
So, there you have it: Another S.O.S. trick to add to your edtech toolbox. Stay tuned for additional ways to activate learning in your classroom…
Like what you see? Then take the digital integration challenge by trying to implement the Partner Time strategy and/or one of these additional ideas into a classroom lesson:
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