“What do you think about the Messiah?” (Matthew 22:42)
With that question, Jesus—the Master Teacher—invited his disciples to both reflect on an important question and verbalize their deeply held beliefs. They would benefit not only from stating their own answers but also from hearing the answers of their fellow disciples. In other words, it was a learning activity that included both communication and collaboration. We also design learning activities that encourage our people to both communicate their beliefs and collaborate with the ideas of others. But not everybody immediately buys into the process.
For a long time, I was the student who wouldn’t raise my hand in class. I was afraid of saying the wrong answer and looking foolish. Or I was afraid of saying the right answer in an ineloquent, stumbling fashion—thereby, again, looking foolish.
Growing up, I wasn’t just the perfectionist who was afraid to be wrong. I realize now that I was (and am) also the person who needs to lay out options, organize thoughts, and craft with words. That’s really hard for some people to do on the fly—in a classroom full of people. I like to have a few moments to think so that I can think things through and craft a well-reasoned, well-worded response.
I suspect that a lot of our quieter students in catechism class find themselves in the same situation. They don’t lack intelligence; they lack confidence. It’s not that they don’t have the answers to questions, it’s that they need a little more time to articulate the answers. So as educators, we need to ask . . . how will we ever get to hear the voices of those students?
With tech tools like Padlet and Flipgrid, every student has the opportunity to hear from every other student in the room.[1]
As mentioned in a previous installment of this series, Padlet is an online bulletin board where the teacher posts a question that appears like a sticky note. The teacher shares the Padlet page link, and, navigating there, the students post answers to the questions that appear on everyone’s screens in a similar sticky note format. The format gives students time to think, compose, and then rewrite if they wish before posting an answer.
Consider this tech-twist on the traditional THINK-PAIR-SHARE:
THINK (Take 3 minutes and answer the question below on your own)
PAIR (partner up and compare your list with your partner’s, stealing one answer from his or her list for your own)
SHARE (post your list to our website on padlet.com)
Here’s the question:
What are ways that Christian parents can teach their kids to be cheerful givers and responsible caretakers of the money God has given them? Can you come up with five examples?
By using Padlet, you’re effectively doubling down on collaboration. First, the student is collaborating with a partner, then the student is collaborating with the whole class. And perhaps, most important, that kid who never raises his hand is nudged to contribute—and receive feedback on his answer.
One caveat . . . one of the reasons that Padlet is so easy to use is because it doesn’t require any sort of sign in. You should always ask students to identify themselves in their posts in the subject line. But if they refuse to do so, student posts will appear without any identifying markers. If you’re worried about shenanigans—and you probably should be!—know that Padlet gives the teacher a settings option to approve all posts before they appear on everyone’s screen.
Flipgrid adds another engaging way for students to see and hear other students in contexts they hadn’t before. Flipgrid asks students to record themselves with their laptop’s webcam responding to the prompts you’ve given them. Note that because it’s noisy, this might be more of at-home activity than an in-class activity.
If we want students to be able to communicate in a thoughtful, confident manner—especially when it comes to their faith—Flipgrid gives them opportunity to practice doing that in a safe environment.
God has chosen to communicate his law and gospel in words communicated from person to person. Even as technology becomes increasingly ubiquitous in our lives, the need for personal connections won’t change. Indeed, technology has the power to depersonalize communication. But in its proper place, technology also has the power to make connections, to aid us in communicating God’s message with tools that previously were not possible. That’s exciting! May he bless your efforts, fellow educators, as you faithfully make use of the tools—even the tech tools!—that are available to you.
[1]By way of context, I’d mention again that the students in my catechism classes are each equipped with their own Chromebook.