There’s a Parking Lot In Class?

The parking lot strategy has been a part of many of my professional development sessions.  A facilitator placed large, white, sticky posters along the wall, and we had to go to each poster and make a comment to a question.  Although I did the strategy many times within a professional development session, it was not until last year that I did the strategy with my classes.

My students were reading a novel that was incorporated into their worktext book.  There were many questions within the lesson, and they were working collaboratively to answer the questions.  I placed the questions around the classroom, and everyone one had to write their opinions or thoughts about the question.  The strategy took two days because the students had to answer the question, and we reviewed the answers the next day.  The strategy did engage more discussion among the groups, and everyone participated in writing on the paper.

I would use this strategy again because I witnessed engagement of the students within the lesson.  There was a focused topic, and students were able to explain their thoughts about the question.  Have you been introduced to the parking lot strategy at a professional development session and have you used it within your classroom?  Let me know in the comment section below.