It has always been a problem for me to teach about the gritty challenges of US urban education while sitting on a lovely bucolic campus with students who have little or no experience in city schools. I use speaker phone interviews in class so that my students can speak directly to experts on city schools. This expert might be a teacher, principal, parent, administrator or researcher. In each case, it has been someone we have read or read about. Most recently, my students have interviewed Cedric Jennings, the subject of Ron Suskind's book A Hope in the Unseen.
Planning is crucial to the success of a speaker phone conversation.
Place the call, and cross your fingers. Be ready to jump in, and clarify, translate, or summarize if necessary. Some experts can get edgy or defensive, and they may need your reassuring voice to know that they are being clear. If they are not being clear, you may have to restate the question, or ask the student to restate the question. Student Response Students have overwhelmingly responded that the speaker phone interviews have deepened, extended and enriched their learning.