Student Contributor: J. Smith
The inside outside circle is where the class is split in half and there is a big circle and a smaller circle on the inside where the students on the inside are facing the students on the outside circle and vice versa. The people on the inside stay in place and the people on the outside rotate to answer and discuss the teachers question s with new partners.
This discussion technique gives students the opportunity to respond to questions and/or discuss information with a variety of peers in a structured manner. Students form two concentric circles and exchange information with a partner until the teacher signals the outer circle to move in one direction, giving each student a new peer to talk to. This tool is used to get students talking with new people that they don’t normally speak with on a daily basis. This is a good technique to use to get students to get to know each other by asking specific personal questions and having kids find out new and exiting things about their classmates.
This tool relates closest to the student directed and collaborative theory of influence because the students are running the discussion in their circles but the teacher is still making the discussion topics and questions and also the time in between partners. This tool is supportive mostly because it is supporting new relationships between peers and it also lets students talk to new people about their beliefs on a subject and keeping the conversations going between every partner.
More Information –
Tool Source: gus Nollmeyer, Donita Torres
http://www.theteachertoolkit.com/index.php/tool/inside-outside-circles
