Module 10 – Collaborative Conversations

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Three key ideas from the reading

 - Disciplinary literacy versus doing school:  As was noted in the Perusall exercise, one of the memorable phrases from this week’s reading is that there is a difference between sitting together and learning together.  The first is simple enough, the second requires more planning and work, but is much more worthwhile.

 - IAL, chapter 6:  As a non-philosophy specialist, I have distanced myself from the Socratic seminar, assuming it to be formal and requiring familiarity with Plato’s works.  Those scales have fallen from my eyes and I will embrace the Socratic seminar as a practical way to enable students to grapple with complex concepts.

 - Wouldn’t she notice he had mud on his shirt?:  The section on accountability as a necessary component of learning and discussions was on target.  How students to expectations with regard to accountability to knowledge, to standards of reasoning, and to the learning community can actually spark their interest and boost their sense of agency.

 Two strategies I will use

 - As mentioned above, the Socratic Seminar strategy is one I look forward to using for an appropriate subject, such as a short but historically significant text (Emancipation Proclamation, Martin Luther King’s final sermon, etc.).

 - The jigsaw strategy has many moving parts, but is a good way to tackle large, but not too deep, subjects quickly by divvying information up amongst a number of students.  It also requires students to pay attention and move around, boosting engagement.

 One question remaining

 In some of the readings and Doug Fisher’s video emphasis is placed on making the work challenging and holding students accountable for preparation and participation.  All good ideas.  However, I need to think more about how the Socratic seminar, for example, could best be staged with an eye to encouraging maximum participation and learning from ELL students.

Comments

  1. Alice JiNovember 5, 2024 at 11:55 AM

    Hi, John! Your question about how to maximize participation and learning from ELL students in a Socratic seminar, for example, is an important question that also kind of came up for me too. In Socratic seminars, it's necessary for students to be able to articulate their thoughts/opinions for others to understand and respond to ... but how can a student who is not comfortable with English fully engage and participate? Does this strategy have to be scratched altogether? I also wonder if there is a way to accommodate/adjust this strategy for ELLs or if it's necessary to just use a different strategy.

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  2. Conor DinanNovember 5, 2024 at 3:10 PM

    I like your Damascene conversion on Socratic Seminars. We had them in high school and I found them unbearable but I agree entirely that, with proper planning (both on the day and in the months leading up to them), they could be excellent. I was also very influenced by how the concept of 'accountability' was not only developed in Chiaravalloti but demonstrated in very accessible, practcal terms. As Alice also pointed out, your concern for ELLs added another dimension to the reading/viewing, which I hadn't actually thought of when I was doing the module - so I appreciate your perspective.

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