Share Out Sessions

The goal of share out sessions is to bring the ideas being worked on in small groups to the whole class. They provide a structured way to share ideas across groups and to begin to build consensus around on those ideas.

At different phases of the unit, share out sessions can play different roles. For instance, during the Eliciting Students’ Initial Ideas phase, the goal is to get ideas on the table. These ideas can then be “worked on” over time as the unit progresses. During the Pressing for Evidence-Based Explanations phase, however, the goal is to build consensus across the groups on all or part of the explanation for the anchoring phenomenon. At all points, share out sessions are a two-way street. Groups not only receive feedback on their ideas, but they learn from others' models as well.

Here, we propose three main ways of facilitating effective share out sessions. Each has challenges and affordances. These are meant to occur after the initial construction, revision, or finalization of group models. Similar sessions can occur after class activities if small groups have differing data to present, or you as the teacher sense that groups hearing the different ways groups are putting ideas together in their evolving explanations would be beneficial for all groups to consider and weigh against their own smaller group's model.

Types of Share Out Sessions

At different phases of the unit, share out sessions can play different roles. For instance, during the Eliciting Students’ Initial Ideas phase, the goal is to get ideas on the table. These ideas can then be “worked on” over time as the unit progresses. During the Pressing for Evidence-Based Explanations phase, however, the goal is to build consensus across the groups on all or part of the explanation for the anchoring phenomenon. At all points, share out sessions are a two-way street. Groups not only receive feedback on their ideas, but they learn from others' models as well.

Here, we propose three main ways of facilitating effective share out sessions. Each has challenges and affordances. These are meant to occur after the initial construction, revision, or finalization of group models. Similar sessions can occur after class activities if small groups have differing data to present, or you as the teacher sense that groups hearing the different ways groups are putting ideas together in their evolving explanations would be beneficial for all groups to consider and weigh against their own smaller group's model.

Facilitated Whole Class Share Out Session

During this type of share out session, the teacher facilitates the sharing out of ideas from one group at a time. Each group is invited to stand up and share their models while other groups listen and ask questions.

During the session, the teacher:

Prompts each group to describe their model.
Asks clarifying questions and probes the group for more information.
Compares and contrasts ideas across groups.
Makes suggestions to improve the clarity and/or detail of the models.
Prompts the class to play a similar role.

In a gallery walk, groups display their models for evaluation and critique. The teacher facilitates each group moving between models to provide feedback and may even provide a template for recording new or different ideas. They may need between 3-5 minutes at each model with the teacher calling out when it is time to move on to another group's model. Groups provide feedback on their peers' models on post-it notes with sentence stems that are left on the models. When groups come back to their own models, the groups review the feedback and discuss possible revisions.

During the session, the teacher:

Plays timekeeper, keeping the class moving between groups.
Provides sentence stems and ideas for how to respectfully critique their peers.
Assists struggling groups with providing feedback.

Gallery Walk Share Out Session

Modified Gallery Walk Share Out Session

Similar to the gallery walk above, in this version one member of each group stays behind with their models as the rest of their group rotates. The student staying behind has the role of helping explain the model and recording feedback from the visiting groups. Once each group has visited all models, they return to their models and the student who stayed behind provides a summary of the feedback received and facilitates a conversation about possible revisions based on the feedback.

During the session, the teacher:

Plays timekeeper, keeping the class moving between groups.
Provides sentence stems and ideas for how to respectfully critique their peers.
Assist struggling groups with providing feedback.

Each of these share out techniques has affordances and drawbacks. You'll notice that the role of the teacher is more central in some than others. Choosing which to utilize is based on the experience (e.g., earlier or later in the year) and the extent to which productive classroom norms have been established, as well as the amount of time available.

Scaffolding Feedback on Group Models

Sentence frames and sticky notes provide another resource for supporting peer-to-peer feedback on iterations of models across an MBI unit. The sentence frames provide a scaffold for supporting productive language students can use to suggest a revision, an addition, something be removed, or to ask questions about another group's model. Using color-coded sticky notes supports students in integrating the use of sticky notes with sentence frames so that comments can be made directly on peers' models. Through this, those receiving feedback can make decisions about how the feedback they received might inform future changes in their models.

See examples of sentence frames as well as the use of color-coded sticky notes to provide model feedback. Note: We learned about sentence frames and stick notes from the Ambitious Science Teaching Group.