Here's a clip from 2A English 12 (forgive the audio quality). One of the things I like about this clip is that while the quality of the conversation is pretty good, the pace is also relaxed. Some times, these discussions are really intense and fast-paced. Sometimes, they're more relaxed and the students dig a bit deeper into the issues that come up.
You can't really tell from this clip that there's a time-limit on this conversation, nor can you tell that the students are multi-tasking (by using the GoogleChat function while also talking face-to-face).
Sometimes students say that these discussions feel scripted, and that is a risk, but I also think that our students aren't used to consciously and actively preparing for discussions. They're perhaps used to thinking of discussions as totally accidental and unpredictable, and so when they've actually prepared, then they feel as though the conversation is scripted. Sometimes, we do stumble on unexpected topics and discussions take an unusual turn, but it's also okay if students just work on articulating and organizing their thoughts about the reading...
"Do you agree or disagree?"
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