Last week, I began using One-Minute Papers. I heard about them in a Professional Development session. I was weary of using them, but they interested me.
I used it for the first time in my ENGL1301 class. It was interesting to get the responses that I received.
You give the students a post-it note or an index card. I used index cards. You then ask them to write 2-4 sentences on a question that you ask them. There are a number of questions you can ask them from content questions to learning questions. It is a great tool to gage student’s engagement in the class.
The question I asked last week was… What idea expressed in last week’s class strongly affected or influenced your personal opinions, viewpoints, or values?
Overall, I received some good responses. The funniest ones are the ones where people said nothing influenced or affected them. I am always amazed at the handwriting some of my students have, some of them would make great fonts. I will continue to use this tool in my writing classes.
I am thinking about introducing them to the Sunday School teachers for my Sunday School class. I think it would be a good tool to engage people’s engagement in the class because sometimes it seems as if people aren’t engaged with the teaching.
