Is your classroom talk Ping-Pong or Basketball?

When you want your students to discuss something as a whole class, get them to pass the talk to each otherbasketball style, rather than always have them pass it back to you – ping-pong style.

Basketball court, players waiting for a pass

Image by Hvd69, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

There are several benefits to doing this:

  • Pupils start to listen to what others are saying.

  • They look at each other when they speak.

  • They support or challenge each other’s points.

  • It gives you as the teacher the opportunity to listen and think about what they are saying.

Whole-class talk from Ping-Pong to Basketball