ManageBac Discussions Tips & Tricks

It doesn't look as pretty as Google Classroom. It's not as organic either. It takes a little time to learn and it is definately not something you can fumble your way around. But, when you get your head around it and take some time to experiment with it, you can find that it really helps you save time as a teacher and gets you away from the 'busy' work and back on track to doing what you do best. Managebac Discussion also aligns with different pedagogy, teaching strategies and learning goals.

Two Types of Discussions

The binary option of complete/incomplete response in Discussion as formative saves teachers so much time.

There are two types of discussions - ones that can be accessed via the banner on your class's homepage and ones that can be set up as a binary formative task with an automatic response of complete/ incomplete depending on how many posts you have set up for students to do.

Discussion on the Home Screen

The discussion board via the home page can be set up as a question corner or as a place for reflections. A question corner could be a place where teachers and students share questions and answers regarding the course.

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This is a great space to set up a question corner, to deliver course work or share examples of work.

For schools that don't allow displays of students' work, you could also set up a discussion board where you could upload or nominate students to show works of excellence and works of growth.

Some teachers use this to deliver announcements or materials.

Both these discussions could grow throughout the year.

Discussion as a Formative.

Set up a discussion under tasks and click Formative. Select a discussion, and there you can nominate how many responses you require.

Choose how many responses you want for complete / incomplete.

There are so many great things you can do with the discussion board. Your work as a teacher will be responding to students' responses. The beauty of this is that you can keep a whole discussion board open while responding as opposed to opening up individual student files of submissions, which often require between 2 - 4 clicks depending on how you give feedback.

Use of Student Discussion Task

In general, it is a great way of sharing learning and giving voice to students. Having a record of students' work that parents can also see creates that deep sense of community of learners. It's a place where people can give praise to each other and monitor growth. For those who are slower at reading or not in a good space, it can be accessed later.

Students can learn from each other.

Students are able to learn from each other. Though as a teacher, you will need to set up the expectations.

Depending on the task, you can find ways to develop different aspects of hte IB IB Learner Profile such as being a Risk-Taker, Communicator, Open-Minded and Reflective.

Uses	IB Approaches to Learning (ATL)	Descriptions		Other
Sharing ideas on identity.	Social	Listen actively to other perspectives and ideas ( though in this case, read)
Real-life Blog writing	Communication	Use a variety of media to communicate with a range of audiences. Give and receive meaningful feedback.	Write for different purposes.	In general, having an audience to write for gives meaning to the writing.
Reflections on learning	Reflections Skils	(Share &) Develop new skills, techniques and strategies for effective learning	(Consider their peers' strategies) and demonstrate flexibility in the selection and use of learning strategies	Organisational Skills: Create plans to prepare for summative assessments (examinations and performances)
Entry Point/ Knowledge Harvest			Help others to succeed.	The purpose is to understand what students know and don't know about a topic.
Exit Ticket	Various			You can align questions with Skills - what skills you have. Learnt? Knowledge: What is something you knew that you know now? Understanding: How does this _______ relate to a real-life situation?
Factual/Conceptual/ Debateable	Collaboration skills		Use social media networks appropriately to build and develop relationships.	Relates to IMYC journaling questions to reflect understanding/