The power of gestures
Maximising engagement during circle time
Let’s face it, having a class discussion in a learning, preparation or response circle can be a challenge. Even with well-developed expectations, priming for desired behaviours, turning and talking for anything more than two words AND clear think time routines, you walk away wondering if you’ve managed to hit the mark. It may leave you thinking, “Did everyone hear what point John was making? Were there some outliers who didn’t quite agree with that statement? Where’s everyone’s head at?”
Wouldn’t it be handy to have a way to make thinking more visible in the circle discussion?
When I was on class teaching maths, we engaged heavily in ‘number talks’ to promote dialogue and maths discussions. I would use individual hand gestures with my students for them to efficiently share their mathematical thinking. We had a solution gesture, a more than one solution gesture, the same solution as another student gesture, a different solution gesture and a gesture for questions. This was such a simple, shared communication style that easily allowed me to scan and assess where the whole class group were at with working mathematically for the strategies we were putting into practice. It gave me the gist for how they were building their mathematical efficiencies, the strategies that challenged them and an insight into any misconceptions I may need to address. It also built trust in the group to take risks in sharing – it never mattered if they were right or wrong, it was about their explanations. We also know that if you make a mistake and work out where you went wrong in maths, you generally don’t make that again…fancy that – real learning!
During an In Class Day with our incredible partner school, Botanic Ridge Primary, I was running a learning circle with an awesome Year 4 class diving deep into ‘risk taking in learning’. I had talked about the ‘thumbs up’ gesture to show me they were ready to contribute to the conversation, but I soon started noticing other gestures. I was so impressed. When I had a session with the Year 5/6 class, running a learning circle on ‘anger rules’, they too were well-versed in the same gestures.
Without question, these gestures increased the rate and rigour of our discussion. By design, they maximised engagement through enhancing the communication process and allowed more synchronised responses of students than a ‘hands up’ classroom approach ever would.
It certainly reduced those behaviours we often challenge in the circle, such as calling out and interruption. Instead, the flow of responses increased as students shared ideas, built on understandings and communicated intentions. It really felt like a two-way process, where you could focus on encouraging desired behaviour through affirming affective language, (“I’m impressed to see you tracking the speaker”), or priming, (“That was a whopper of an idea, let’s keep thinking hard”).
Everyone in the circle was engaged in a visible way. What was even more incredible was that it was a shared language across the school. It didn’t matter whether it was Year 4, Year 5/6, Year 1, music or science; every student knew and used the same gestures.
This is now a MUST when I am working in circles with young people. I have used them across all our partner schools to Year 9 so far.
A huge shout out to Botanic Ridge Primary School, who have inspired and reimagined this practice and for sharing your gesture anchor chart with the world – you can see it here. Feel free to use or adapt them.
Food for thought…
Engagement can be seen as thinking, listening, speaking and doing. What are some gestures you could co-create with your students to maximise their active engagement in circle and class discussions and make their thinking visible?
I know secondary teachers may be thinking, “Yeah but…” Just pause for a sec, I dare you to consider what bits might just work and then have a crack!
