Backchannel Chatting: Discussion Outside the Classroom

As much as I try to avoid doing so, my students always seem to feel like assignments from different teachers overlap in the same week, sometimes the same day. My sophomores might have an essay due in my class, a two-day exam in Chemistry, and a test in AP Euro: all within two days of each other.

That stinks.

I can be flexible with due dates, but at the end of the day, my students' schedules are crazy busy, not even thinking about sports, extracurriculars, jobs, and family obligations.

So, how can I offer support, ease anxiety, and work with students to build skills in a way that better accommodates my students' schedules?

One possibility I learned about a few weeks ago is a nifty online discussion tool called Backchannel Chat.

Backchannel Chat basically feels like an old-school chat room but without the creepy anonymous factor. Several safeguards are put in place: students can't join the room unless the teacher is also logged in, inappropriate language is filtered, and students don't need to give any personal information in order to sign in.

While I can see Backchannel Chat as a great tool within the walls of the classroom, I decided to try it as an opportunity to "meet" with my students outside of class to prepare for a test over Their Eyes Were Watching God the next day.

I posed the idea to my students, saying that I'd be signed into the chatroom that evening between 7-9 p.m. Students could drop in as they pleased to ask any questions and participate in the discussion.

Three students stopped in to chat! Out of a single class of 26, I was okay with that turnout, especially on such short notice. As I opened the chatroom and emailed out the link, I reminded students that they needed to use their real name. I felt comfortable enough with this class to trust I wouldn't have any "imposters" invading the discussion.

I also encouraged students to ask and answer any questions in the chat. One benefit of opening a full chatroom rather than limiting students to emailing me with questions was that all students who entered the room could see the ideas being posed. The discussion became much more like an actual discussion rather than a Q&A with the teacher:

Since the goal of this discussion was simply to talk through ideas from the book to prepare for a test, I wasn't expecting earth-shattering insights; however, I was super impressed with the initiative the three students took in responding to each other rather than staying focused just on my response as the teacher. Students asked questions, but I also posed new questions in response, encouraging them to think deeply about the novel--and they encouraged each other to do the same, too!

The group also phased in and out--it was clear that we were all working on other stuff, too. But that was okay. The purpose was to accommodate my students' busy schedules, and Backchannel Chat helped me do just that. I look forward to trying it out again!