The basic idea behand Talking Points is deceptively simple: put together a collection of questions and observations cobbled together from a range of sources (Google, Pinterest, my own fetid imagination…) and use them to create a small – but expanding – list of ready-made discussion starters.
Once created, post them to a Board on Pinterest, sit back and Bob, while not necessarily being your father’s brother, is very definitely related in some way.
That’s it.
Really.
Although if you’re at a loose end and want to spend a few extra minutes reading some “Random stuff you’ve found on the Internet”™, I could go on with some waffle about the various Talking Points being a bit of a mixed bag.
Some are:
That Really Is It.
Except, something I’ve just thought of that I used to do and which you might be interested enough to think about.
When introducing a new topic or idea a useful way to kick it off is to ask a question, one that’s a little more subtle and helpful than “What do you think about…?”.
If you can ask the right question, you then start to key into the kinds of knowledge students bring to a topic – and this helps both you and them to develop ideas about and around the topic.
Just a thought.