Getting Started With Student-Led Teaching

Over the past 10 years, I have made a lot of changes in my classroom—many of which have involved a significant amount of risk-taking. Peer or student-led teaching stands out as the change that has had the most impact in my middle school classroom. What began as a simple last-minute review strategy evolved over time into a powerful opportunity for students. It sparked creativity and problem-solving, all while enhancing their understanding of the content material. And, it removed me from the center of the classroom.

First steps of Student-led teaching

When I first introduced this idea, it was pretty simple: I paired students and assigned each pair a topic to review. One student was the “teacher” and the other the “student.” They each had to create a short lesson or activity to explain the assigned concept to their partner. The next time, they would work with another partner, develop a lesson, and then teach it to a small group or even the whole class.

With each opportunity, I noticed positive changes in our classroom community, too. Students became the experts and leaders. They designed and delivered mini-lessons to their peers, as a way to either review material for finals, revisit topics from earlier in the year, or share something they were passionate about. It was energizing, creative, and incredibly rewarding. And fun, not just for the students, but for me too.

Student-led teaching isn’t just a fun activity (although it definitely can be!). When students are preparing to teach, it is also a great form of learning. They aren’t just memorizing content; instead they are making meaning from it, transforming it, and finding creative and personalized ways to share it with others.

My goal is to encourage students to become more actively engaged in their learning. However, the benefits go far beyond that. Relationships become better. Students build confidence in their language speaking skills and develop essential skills that will best prepare them for the future, such as the following:

• Communication skills. Students have to think carefully about how to explain a topic clearly. They practice speaking, presenting, and anticipating questions from peers.
• Leadership. Even students who may not see themselves as leaders have the opportunity to develop leadership skills. They build confidence in presenting to an audience, facilitating discussions, and determining the best teaching approaches.
• Reflection. Teaching provides students with the opportunity to reflect on what they really know (and what they may need to review).
• Collaboration. When students work in pairs or teams, they communicate better, divide tasks, and rely on each other’s strengths. It models the real-world collaborative skills they’ll need in the future.
• Design skills. My students also gain skills by developing new resources. The materials they use or create become reusable study tools for others, and this gives me new ideas, too. It is authentic, engaging, and truly student-centered, and it shifts them from consumers to creators and leaders in our classroom.

Structuring student-led teaching sessions

I typically spend one to two class periods working with students as they design their lessons. I also provide students with a set of basic guidelines as they begin to design their teaching sessions:

• Decide on a time limit for the lesson, and divide the roles for the lesson.
• Select areas of the content that you may need some additional practice with. This leads to greater retention of the content and makes the session more authentic and meaningful.
• Determine methods and materials. What do you need to create? This can include games, worksheets, video lessons, tutorials.
• Review the peer feedback form to learn from classmates about the impact of the lesson.

Ideas for Different Grades and Content Areas

One of the reasons I love this approach so much is its flexibility. No matter what grade or subject you teach, student-led teaching can fit, and it doesn’t have to be time-consuming to plan. Leverage the power of AI tools such as Eduaide.Ai, which can help teachers support students by quickly creating think-pair-share activities,  round robin discussions, debate topics, or team-based activities for students to use as a starting point. It saves a lot of the initial planning time that can then be spent learning with students and reflecting on progress.

I’ve also recently been using TeacherTool.AI, by TeachShare, to generate a variety of materials, including peer feedback forms and evaluation rubrics to use with my students. With either of these resources, teachers can quickly create guiding materials to get a quick start and then have extra time to adjust as needed.

Peer Teaching in Action

At the start of the year, I give my students in my upper-level Spanish classes a list of topics to review and reteach their classmates. This has worked really well over the years because it is more authentic and meaningful for the students, plus it gives me new ideas and materials that I can use in my class with other students. I provide enough structure to support students while also offering enough choice to spark their creativity.

Students have taught each other topics like verb conjugations, vocabulary words, cultural and historical facts, and art-related lessons pertaining to the theme of our lessons. Students have designed slide shows, made or shown short videos, and created a game either using a digital tool or making it up themselves for review with their classmates.

In my STEAM class, students were fact finders and received topics such as AI, augmented and virtual reality, blockchain, the metaverse, and other emerging technologies. Each student or small group had the task of researching their topic and preparing a short presentation for their peers. They became the “experts” and shared what they learned, and they also developed leadership skills, which are essential for future success. A few groups even led the class in a debate, acted out a skit, made posters, and created vocabulary games to help classmates build their content knowledge in a more engaging way.

Tools and Resources

Part of setting students up for success is giving them access to the right tools and resources. There are a variety of presentation and game-based learning tools to choose from. I also provide options where students can share ideas or express themselves, whether using recording tools or a collaborative digital space. Students can build confidence and digital citizenship skills, too.

Student-led teaching transforms learning from a passive experience into an active, meaningful one. It places students in the spotlight, and they take pride in their work. It’s one of the best things I’ve done to build a classroom community, deepen understanding, and empower students with skills they’ll use long after they’ve left my classroom.