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Fish Bowl

Materials required
Implementation procedure
Strategy in practice

  • Small fish tank or another empty open container roughly the size of a tissue box

  • Post-its or note cards

  • Pens/pencils/markers

  1. Store the container somewhere inconspicuous in your classroom.

  2. Stack a pile of index cards or post-its nearby along with the writing utensils.

  3. Encourage students to write down any questions or comments and place them in the bowl.

  4. After every class, scan the container to see if there are any notes in it.

Third grade teacher Andrew was frustrated by the silence in his class. His students talked plenty, but he sensed there was an underlying tension between a group of four boys in the class, and he wasn’t sure how to tap into it. The situation reached a head when he saw one of the boys crying outside during recess. When he approached him after class, the boy was silent.

Andrew went home that night and spotted an empty tissue box in his recycling bin. He lined it in wrapping paper and placed it the next day in the back corner of his class. He introduced “the fish bowl” to his students as “a way for you to help me be a better teacher.”

Each evening before he left, Andrew checked the box. Sometimes he got nothing. And sometimes the comments were immature, which he expected.

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But there have been a few comments that struck at the heart of what he witnessed that day and inspired him to take on class-wide community-building exercises as a way to teach the practice of collaboration and respect to his students.

References:

- Haynes, K. Top 12 ways to increase student participation. Retrieved 10/28, 2016, from http://www.teachhub.com/top-12-ways-increase-student-participation

- "Vijay." (2016, October 20). Personal interview.

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