Jigsaw is a tried and true method for cooperative learning in my classroom. I feel this method works especially well with older students who appreciate having more autonomy and ownership over their own learning. Additionally, study and reading groups in college often operate under this same premise: become an expert on one section, then depend on info. supplied by other student "experts" to complete the full "puzzle" of the reading. The peer dependency is a strong motivator and a responsibility my students tend to take quite seriously.
Most recently, I used this method in my British literature and composition class to study Romantic era poetry. Students were divided into groups, designated with color coding on a spreadsheet shown at the front of the classroom. Initially, students individually studied and analyzed their assigned poet's writing style. Then, they met together with others who had studied the same poet. This allowed time to share their own ideas and add to their original list new insights gained from shared info. of group members. Next, together as a group, they read poetry by two assigned American poets that correlated in some way (either stylistically or by subject matter) with the original British poet. They were charged with discussing and coming to conclusions about comparative values between the authors. Finally, the group was divided out, and one representative from each group was mixed with representatives from other groups to form a new mixed expert group. While this sounds a bit complicated, the color coding of groups actually made it quite manageable. I feel this approach gave them a variety of learning experiences, not only to be the recognized expert, but also to see the value of listening to others and synthesizing information to create a fully developed picture of their own understanding.
This jigsaw method was also used in my AP Lang class (in an adapted format) for the editing process on a recent essay. Students completed an essay and then studied closely one of six elements of strong writing (taken from the 6+1 traits model). They evaluated a sample essay and a peer's essay for this element, and then discussed as a group the relationship between all six elements working together to
make a successful final written product. The jigsaw was less discussion-based, but the interactions were planned and structured, which is more successful with this class of students.
Overall, I find this method to be one that lends itself well to my strengths as a teacher. Facilitating and guiding learning is my favorite approach as I feel it gives student-driven education an environment in which to to thrive. Structured with probing questions and careful setup, this method is most successful when students are fully invested in the process and know they will be held accountable for the knowledge gained. I usually end an activity like this with an individual assessment which taps into knowledge gained through the jigsaw activity as well as teacher-driven instructional reinforcement.
Monday, March 30, 2015
Friday, February 27, 2015
Socratic Seminar discussion method
This teaching method is modeled after the one proposed and utilized
by Socrates himself. The methodology in practice involves questioning
with depth and purpose, but not necessarily debate, concepts and logic
or philosophical perspectives in subject study. This is a methodology
that thrives in many classrooms and invokes interest in learning because
it is largely student-driven and student-centered. This methodology is
all inclusive in that it brings into action students' problem-solving
skills and inquiry-based learning repertoire developed in their math and
science learning, and the use of rhetoric and support for ideas, as
well as knowledge of historical and social relevance, areas developed in
their humanities learning experiences. Of course, their participation
and creative development of ideas as well as ability to interact and
appreciate alternate viewpoints to their own are developed in all areas,
including their fine arts and physical education courses.
Socratic seminars require some front loading on the part of the teacher. Students should be given a text to read (article, poem, book, textbook selection) or view (film, short video clip, picture, painting, speech, etc.) It is important that all students have been given the same text, for discussion purposes. In the case of a reading text, it is helpful to number the paragraphs so students can easily refer to specific quotes or examples to support their ideas. Also, consider the reading level of all students and choose one of a middle level text complexity to ensure that all students will be able to participate
Teachers should explain this method briefly, that is will require students to answer and pose questions to the class, that participation is vital to get the most from the learning experience, and that they should arrive with prepared ideas or notes for recollection purposes during the discussion.
I used this discussion method in my AP Lang course as a way to encourage participation. To begin the unit, all students read Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" and answered five questions that probed their depth of understanding. Then, students were assigned one of the five questions to focus on with another 3-4 students from class. Together, they developed extension questions to propose to the rest of the class, and assigned logistics such as who would vocalize which question and what they might predict response times to be like. Then, we set those questions aside for about a week, and continued to read and grow our knowledge about the many facets of the unit topic: education. We ended the unit by having a Socratic seminar. Students reviewed, added to, and finalized plans for questions and participation developed earlier in the unit. Then, I proposed a change of venue from the classroom that seem to put them a bit more at ease. We went to the media center and sat in a group facing each other on the couches and tables in the corner. I began with a brief history of Socrates' method of questioning for learning purposes, and then outlined the parameters that all students were expected to speak at least once during each group's discussion. Students in this class are not very talkative or voluntarily participatory, so I knew this would be a challenge for them.
The discussion lasted three days, and students were participatory for much of the time, although meaningful contributions were exhausted by day three. We ended with a debriefing about how ideas related to other pieces from the education unit.
Overall, I feel this method was a success. Without me to facilitate discussion, the conversations were dependent upon them listening to one another and responding accordingly to each others' ideas. There is always value to building one's repertoire in leadership practice. If I do this method with this class again, I will try to put a cap on the number of times students can respond, so no one student dominates discussion. I will also look to tie the points for into quality of responses, rather than just the expectation to voice opinion or "participate," as some received credit for only subtle agreements, while others presented more complex thoughts that led to further discussion.
Socratic seminars require some front loading on the part of the teacher. Students should be given a text to read (article, poem, book, textbook selection) or view (film, short video clip, picture, painting, speech, etc.) It is important that all students have been given the same text, for discussion purposes. In the case of a reading text, it is helpful to number the paragraphs so students can easily refer to specific quotes or examples to support their ideas. Also, consider the reading level of all students and choose one of a middle level text complexity to ensure that all students will be able to participate
Teachers should explain this method briefly, that is will require students to answer and pose questions to the class, that participation is vital to get the most from the learning experience, and that they should arrive with prepared ideas or notes for recollection purposes during the discussion.
I used this discussion method in my AP Lang course as a way to encourage participation. To begin the unit, all students read Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" and answered five questions that probed their depth of understanding. Then, students were assigned one of the five questions to focus on with another 3-4 students from class. Together, they developed extension questions to propose to the rest of the class, and assigned logistics such as who would vocalize which question and what they might predict response times to be like. Then, we set those questions aside for about a week, and continued to read and grow our knowledge about the many facets of the unit topic: education. We ended the unit by having a Socratic seminar. Students reviewed, added to, and finalized plans for questions and participation developed earlier in the unit. Then, I proposed a change of venue from the classroom that seem to put them a bit more at ease. We went to the media center and sat in a group facing each other on the couches and tables in the corner. I began with a brief history of Socrates' method of questioning for learning purposes, and then outlined the parameters that all students were expected to speak at least once during each group's discussion. Students in this class are not very talkative or voluntarily participatory, so I knew this would be a challenge for them.
The discussion lasted three days, and students were participatory for much of the time, although meaningful contributions were exhausted by day three. We ended with a debriefing about how ideas related to other pieces from the education unit.
Overall, I feel this method was a success. Without me to facilitate discussion, the conversations were dependent upon them listening to one another and responding accordingly to each others' ideas. There is always value to building one's repertoire in leadership practice. If I do this method with this class again, I will try to put a cap on the number of times students can respond, so no one student dominates discussion. I will also look to tie the points for into quality of responses, rather than just the expectation to voice opinion or "participate," as some received credit for only subtle agreements, while others presented more complex thoughts that led to further discussion.
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Guided Inquiry Learning
This strategy is one used to spice up the traditional avenues of "research and report" used when gathering and sharing historical background information by which to interpret literature of the time period and how it informed and was received by the people.
Guided Inquiry Learning is learning-centered, rather than product-centered (there is not an end "report" or "paper"). It is designed with intention, driven by students' authentic questions to get at deeper understanding. GIL recognizes the emotional side of learning and promotes self-driven research practices.
I used this strategy in my British Literature and Composition class when studying The Middle Ages, medieval history, which informs our understanding of medieval ballads, Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, the stories of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, and, to a lesser degree, the setting and nobility practices in Shakespeare's Macbeth. Many of these works are about and written for the common, everyday people of the time period, and, therefore, our research tended more to lives of the people. Thus, guided inquiry learning led us to orchestrating our own class-wide "game of life" with a middle ages twist!
I began by checking out as many different books as possible from local libraries about the medieval time period. Students generated questions they had about the time period, and then were divided into groups to research their own aspect of the time period.
The groups included:
1. Careers-- charged with researching a variety of jobs held by each sex in both peasantry class
2. Marriage and Weddings-- charged with researching the wedding and marriage customs of the medieval time period and performing an artistic aspect of the ceremony or festival (ex. students showed the class how to do a dance, and one group even prepared a traditional dessert!)
3. Housing-- charged with researching the living quarters and housing options of peasantry and nobility in medieval times
4. Lives of the children-- charged with researching the lives of children at this time period and teaching classmates a game they might play, how they heard stories
5. Valuables-- charged with researching items of currency and trade commonly valued in the medieval time period by peasantry or nobility
6. "Chance"-- charged with researching mishaps, misfortunes, and fortunate circumstances one might encounter as a member of the nobility or peasantry related to other categories
Then, we pieced this info. together into an interactive game (modeled loosely after the board game of Life) and students were able to "play" the game in teams, and learn about the opposite class they had researched. It was a fun learning experience that the entire class had a stake in and the students felt they learned a lot about the time period we were studying. This learning was evident in their writings and verbal interpretations of medieval literature that followed.
Guided Inquiry Design is not a new idea, but it was given further merit and explanation by “Making the Shift from Traditional Research Assignments to Guiding Inquiry Learning” by Leslie Maniotes and Carol Kuhlthau in Knowledge Quest, November/December 2014 (Vol. 43, #2, p. 8-17),
http://www.ala.org/aasl/kq/
Guided Inquiry Learning is learning-centered, rather than product-centered (there is not an end "report" or "paper"). It is designed with intention, driven by students' authentic questions to get at deeper understanding. GIL recognizes the emotional side of learning and promotes self-driven research practices.
I used this strategy in my British Literature and Composition class when studying The Middle Ages, medieval history, which informs our understanding of medieval ballads, Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, the stories of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, and, to a lesser degree, the setting and nobility practices in Shakespeare's Macbeth. Many of these works are about and written for the common, everyday people of the time period, and, therefore, our research tended more to lives of the people. Thus, guided inquiry learning led us to orchestrating our own class-wide "game of life" with a middle ages twist!
I began by checking out as many different books as possible from local libraries about the medieval time period. Students generated questions they had about the time period, and then were divided into groups to research their own aspect of the time period.
The groups included:
1. Careers-- charged with researching a variety of jobs held by each sex in both peasantry class
2. Marriage and Weddings-- charged with researching the wedding and marriage customs of the medieval time period and performing an artistic aspect of the ceremony or festival (ex. students showed the class how to do a dance, and one group even prepared a traditional dessert!)
3. Housing-- charged with researching the living quarters and housing options of peasantry and nobility in medieval times
4. Lives of the children-- charged with researching the lives of children at this time period and teaching classmates a game they might play, how they heard stories
5. Valuables-- charged with researching items of currency and trade commonly valued in the medieval time period by peasantry or nobility
6. "Chance"-- charged with researching mishaps, misfortunes, and fortunate circumstances one might encounter as a member of the nobility or peasantry related to other categories
Then, we pieced this info. together into an interactive game (modeled loosely after the board game of Life) and students were able to "play" the game in teams, and learn about the opposite class they had researched. It was a fun learning experience that the entire class had a stake in and the students felt they learned a lot about the time period we were studying. This learning was evident in their writings and verbal interpretations of medieval literature that followed.
Guided Inquiry Design is not a new idea, but it was given further merit and explanation by “Making the Shift from Traditional Research Assignments to Guiding Inquiry Learning” by Leslie Maniotes and Carol Kuhlthau in Knowledge Quest, November/December 2014 (Vol. 43, #2, p. 8-17),
http://www.ala.org/aasl/kq/
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