Using Weekly Routines to Build Speaking Skills

The week after Super Bowl LIX, my students came to class greeted by images of Saquon Barkley and Cooper DeJean. Realizing the topic of our “daily check-in,” they took their seats cheering, dancing, and blowing kisses at the screen. When the bell rang, the room was full of raised hands with 14-year-olds ready to share.

Moments like this one aren’t just fun—they’re foundational to how I build community in my classroom. By fostering respectful listening and encouraging student self-expression, my daily, monthly, and unit routines help create an environment where every voice matters. When I ask students to reflect on their classroom experience, they consistently highlight these activities as essential to creating a brave space that boosts their confidence and participation.

At my independent, mission-driven school, we emphasize five community Critical Concerns—Nonviolence, Women, Racism, Immigration, and Earth—and encourage students to explore new perspectives with empathy, active listening, and understanding. These dialogue skills are distinct from debate and discussion—they invite students to suspend judgment and appreciate others’ lived experiences. Each day, I focus on building trust, empathy, and metacognitive skills by making listening and self-expression a constant in my classroom. That way, when challenging topics arise, conversations don’t feel like outliers; instead, we can rely on the relationships we’ve built and the skills we’ve practiced.

Building Trust Through Daily Check-Ins

Inspired by Matthew Kay’s Not Light, but Fire, I dedicate at least five minutes each day to classroom community building. Students join my daily Pear Deck as they take their seats and respond to a prompt as I take attendance. This structure ensures 100 percent participation and allows every student to contribute digitally and then out loud if they choose. For quieter students, I review their responses on my phone in Pear Deck’s teacher’s view and ask them open-ended questions. If Pear Deck isn’t an option, Nearpod, Google Forms, sticky notes, paper, or individual whiteboards can all achieve the same effect.

Try this: Use daily prompts that invite personal reflection or lighthearted conversation. This lowers the stakes while normalizing participation.

Weekly Student-Generated Topics

Once a week, I use a student-generated topic from our class slide deck for our check-in. As an icebreaker activity at the start of the semester, students create slides with ideas and can add more over time. I select which slide to begin class with based on the topic’s relevance to the time of year.

Try this: Create a shared class document where students can submit conversation topics throughout the semester. Each week, feature one to reinforce student agency and encourage engagement.

Practicing Low-Stakes Dialogue

Low-stakes conversations can further reinforce dialogue skills. Tackling questions like Is water wet? or Is a hot dog a sandwich? in small groups and then through whole class conversation gives students a chance to build confidence by sharing often. These moments also help students refine essential academic skills—constructing arguments, analyzing evidence, and practicing inquiry-based learning—all within a low-pressure setting.

Try this: Have students respond to playful questions in pairs or groups first. This builds comfort before engaging in a full-class conversation.

Perspective-Taking Activities

When preparing students to engage thoughtfully in a polarized world, I also draw inspiration from Kent Lenci’s work on perspective-taking. Activities like the viral blue-and-black or gold-and-white dress debate and the Café Wall illusion illustrate how different lived experiences shape perception. These exercises show students that perspective isn’t always obvious—even when we think we’re looking clearly.

Try this: Show an ambiguous image, and have students record their initial reaction. Then, have students reflect on why perspectives differ and what influences their own viewpoints.

Semester Presentations on Awareness Topics

Daily check-ins lay the foundation, but I also want students to apply these skills in deeper ways. Once a semester, each student prepares a five-minute presentation about a seasonal awareness topic or event that connects to our school’s values and their personal experiences. Through photos, history, quotes from primary sources, and advocacy efforts, students have addressed topics like Emmett Till’s death in the context of Black History Month and inclusion for the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

Before they share, I provide students with feedback and collaborate with our school counselor for additional support as needed. These moments of class sharing foster active listening and appreciation for others’ lived experiences. At the end of each presentation, we always conclude with positive peer feedback from student volunteers.

Try this: If this routine sounds daunting, consider shorter share-outs on student-selected topics.

Structured Speaking, Questioning, and Listening Exercises

One final step I take is to build structured speaking, questioning, and listening exercises into each unit. To scaffold this, students rotate roles—speaker, questioner, and listener—beginning with 30-second responses and building up to two-minute shares. During dialogue, I provide students with examples of open-ended questions inspired by Adam Grant’s Think Again:

• How did you form your opinion?
• Would you feel differently if you had been born in another time or place?
• What evidence would change your mind?

Students take on each role at least once during a lesson, concluding with self-reflection and receiving peer feedback from the listener about the success of their open-ended questioning. Twice a semester, I also ask students to reflect on their growth in the areas of our school’s educational values, such as Principled Leadership.

Try this: Incorporate structured participation roles with time limits. Gradually increase the length of roles over time.

By making dialogue a daily practice, we equip students not just for academic success but for meaningful engagement with the world. Even small shifts—like dedicating five minutes to student-generated prompts—can positively shape classroom culture at a time when conversations can feel like battles that are won or lost.