Peer Teaching

Submitted by Dayle Biba on 12/11/2008

During the last four weeks of school, I let the students present lessons to the class. I furnish a signup sheet with different aspects of language arts that we have studied, and a calendar to sign up for their teaching day. Lessons are limited to a 8 to 15 minute time frame. They are graded on their presentation, material presented, use of material, and classroom management.

I used this lesson last year with my 7th and 8th graders, and they loved it. I am using it this year with my 6th graders. I limit them to one handout, and I make the copies for them. I also furnish any audio/visual items needed such as overhead, LCD projector, or CD player.

Sometimes, (just for the fun of it) I get up five times to put trash away, get a kleenex, hand sanitizer, or a bathroom pass. I might also start whispering to the person in front of me, or poking another classmate. They soon understand how distracting these diversions are to a teacher and the class.

They are very proud of their presentations, and look forward to being "the teacher". I am a language arts teacher so they might present lessons on literary terms, different genres, grammar, etc. but I think this would work for almost any subject.

Resource Downloads for this Good Idea:

1. MINI lesson.doc

Subject:   Arts, Visual and Performing  English / Language Arts  Mathematics  Science  Social Studies
Grade Level:  High School  Middle School