Tea Time Cup #3:
A Little Cup of Teaching Tips & Tricks
Double Line
Looking for a quick way to practice a skill and get students up and moving? I call this Double Line because students form two lines facing each other. Another version of this is Inside Outside Circle, but I think the double line works better when you have limited space. For this activity, I create a set of cards that have a problem on one side and the answer on the other. The problems for this activity need to be either recall questions or problems that students can do without working out their solutions on paper. Students are lined up in two lines across from a partner. Each student quizzes their partner and then follows-up with a discussion of their solutions. After a few minutes of discussion, one line moves to the right allowing each student to work with a new partner. Continue shifting the line until the students return to their original partners. I use this strategy in AP Calculus AB to practice derivative and integral rules. I also use it to have students identify limits, discontinuities, and differentiability given graphs, tables, and functions. In AP Computer Science A, I use this activity to practice determining the output of String methods, basic conditional statements, or loops. This activity is can be used in almost any class. It is a great way to engage students in practice. It also allows you to quickly assess students as you listen to their discussions as they move down the line.
