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Peer Teaching for Your Academy Students

Peer teaching is a method of teaching, where a student teaches another student (or a group of students). It is becoming increasingly popular along with other group-learning activities in K-12 schools. You can also implement this effective method of learning for your academy students.

Why peer teaching? 

The peer teaching method can be best explained with this quote by Joseph Joubert “To teach is to learn twice”. When the student is made to teach a concept that he/she has learnt, they enhance their own knowledge in that concept. In other words, it is a form of active learning.

How to implement peer teaching in your chess academy?

Here are some ideas to implement peer teaching in your chess classrooms for your students:

1) Blitz Class

As you would have probably guessed by the name, the student has to teach a new topic for 5 minutes in a group class. After teaching, other students can ask questions or clarify their doubts with the student who taught the concept. 

Did you know: In Chesslang Classroom, you can give access for your students to make moves for White and/or Black pieces on the mainboard, while staying connected through integrated audio-video call. Click here to learn more.

online chess class zoom video

2) Sum it up

At the end of your group classes, you can ask your students to summarize the concepts taught for the day. You may either ask one student to summarize every day or ask your students to do this in groups or pairs. 

3) Share puzzles for quizzes

An interesting way to engage your students in a peer teaching activity would be to ask them to challenge each other with puzzles to solve. You may also ask your students to share the database of puzzles with you, which you can use to create quizzes for them to solve.  

4) Role-playing

Role-playing activities can be best used for individual classes, but are also suitable for group classes. Here, a student will play the role of a teacher and teach a new concept to the class. You (the coach) will play the role of a student, ask questions during the class, and clear your doubts with the student. This boosts their confidence a lot. 

5) Reciprocal teaching

You can also pair your students during group classes, where students will take turns and teach each other. This can be used effectively to fill knowledge gaps between students, as one student who knows a concept really well might not know much about another concept. 

By pairing students appropriately, students can share their knowledge on a topic that they know best with the other. For example, a student who is really good at strategic play might be weak in tactics. He/she can be paired with a student who has a great tactical vision. 

6) Guest lecture

You would probably have students in different age categories or skill levels. In that case, you could ask a student from a higher age group or level to give a guest lecture for the lower group. 

For example, an intermediate-level player teaching a basic concept to beginners. This is called Crisscross or Cross-age peer tutoring. 

Benefits of peer teaching

students peer teachingThere are several benefits of implementing peer teaching between students. Below are some of the major benefits:

1. Active learning (reinforcement)

As discussed earlier, teaching a concept is an active form of learning that concept. Therefore, it reinforces the concepts learnt by the student to an extent that he/she will never forget them. As they say, the ability to teach something to others is the highest level of knowledge/intelligence.

2. Helps overcome stage fear

If you have students who have stage fear, you can gradually encourage them to perform peer teaching. This is an effective way to address and overcome stage fear, boost confidence, and achieve greater self-esteem.

3. Builds healthy relationships

Students would feel more comfortable when teaching their peers. This also paves way for a healthy and non-judgmental space, as students learn to listen to their fellow students when he/she is teaching and treat them with respect.

4. Enhances communication skills

One of the important qualities of a good teacher is the ability to communicate properly for others to completely understand what is being said. Through peer teaching, your students will improve their communication (and interpersonal) skills.

Conclusion

When students teach other students, not only does it benefit those students who are being taught, but it also benefits the students who are teaching. And there are several other ways you can implement this in your chess academy – introduce a rewards system, form a timetable for peer teaching, badges, and so on. Feel free to share with us your experience. 🙂 

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