Two Person Discussion

Sasha and Devin, two outgoing students in my World History classroom, were engaged in a thought-provoking debate about a document. We were discussing the experience of enslaved people in Haiti during this unit, and the document described enslaved people finding joy through churches. Sasha practically jumped out of her chair, arguing that the document did not belong in the conversation because it covered up the pain of enslaved people. Devin shook his head with conviction. He argued that the document was relevant and important because it was a part of slavery that showed enslaved people’s humanity. They went back and forth multiple times, digging deeper into their two sides. I was impressed by how nuanced and thoughtful these exchanges were, and by how well Sasha and Devin were modeling my goal of respectful disagreement among students. However, I worried this back and forth was dominating the whole-class discussion and that other students would lose focus if they did not have an opportunity to jump into the conversation. While some students were leaning forward and appeared interested in the debate, I noticed a majority students started to look out the window–a signal to me that they were disengaging. 

Since I started the discussion by saying that it would be student-led, I was not sure if or how I should intervene to get more voices in the mix. Would this ruin the flow of the conversation and frustrate Sasha and Devin, who clearly had more to say? Would it put other students on the spot to speak? Would it make students feel like the discussion was not student-led after all? These questions ran through my head as I checked my watch, realizing there were only 15-minutes left in the class period.