During this week’s lesson, I was very interested in liberating structures and how they can be used to facilitate group work. One that I looked into was the Conversation Cafe where each student gets to share what they think, how others influence how they think, have an open conversation and then share their take-aways. This is a great tool for conversations on deep and meaningful discussions. I would want to make sure that students knew each other before using this format because it requires individuals to speak to a group, which not all students would feel comfortable with.

Another strategy is 1-2-4-all. You work alone, then in pairs, then foursomes, then share altogether. This is a great strategy for students who may not be as outgoing but have valuable ideas that another student can share for them.

The celebrity interview is also interesting. This allows students to ask an expert questions. If I had a guest speaker in my classroom, I could use this strategy to allow for an open discussion.

Photo by Akson on Unsplash

For my teachable, I think the most relevant strategy is 1-2-4-all. It allows for students to throw around ideas and address each other’s misconceptions before they share as a group. I think it would be awesome to use this in a biology class.

Are there any strategies from the Liberating Structures website that you have used in the past? What has been effective and what hasn’t worked as well? Let me know in the comments!