Blog #2
After reading Brookfield's “Discussion as a Way of Teaching” all the teaching strategies to be a positive way to integrate discussion into the classroom. To start, I think that the discussion ground rules would be a good way to integrate discussion because it allows the students to get on the same page, in terms of how they think a good discussion should go. To answer the first question "Think of the best group discussions you've ever been involved in. What things happened that made these conversations so satisfying?" The best group discussion I have been involved in is my intro to fiction class. We would all read the same short stories and when we got to class, the professor would usually have a opening question for us but then would allow us to take the conversation in our own hands and move from topic to topic. Everyone's opinion was valued because it allowed us to look at the same situation in a different way. I think that this kind of discussion can allow students to become more interested in literature because it allows them to analyze and understand the literature themselves without feeling like there is a certain Idea they have to take away from the story.
Which leads me to the next way of teaching discussion "The Circle of Voices", This is creative way of discussion because it allows everyone to speak. The fault in my intro to fiction class was that not everyone would speak on the subject at hand, so the professor would sometimes interject and ask that student on the spot which can often create anxiety and a forced answer. If the student has time before hand to come up with a idea or response to a quote, they would be able to add something of interest to the discussion. Allowing everyone to share their thoughts and have people build on them is an important part of growth in their education, that's why I think I will try to incorporate this type of discussion into my classroom.
I find that a good discussion is on that builds ideas off of another, rather than just ending a topic and starting another. To keep ideas flowing we need to actually listen to what our peers are saying and add to it. The "Circular Response Discussion" is a good representation of this because it allows everyone a opportunity to talk and they have to talk about a certain idea, whether they agree with it or not. I find that debate can often get messy because people are butting heads but its important to challenge idea because one answer is not always the correct answer and just because no one said it was wrong doesn't mean its right.
I think its important to teach students how to debate in a positive and productive way. The "Critical Debate Instructions" is a good way to integrate debate in the classroom because it shows the students that everyone should have a voice and be allowed the rights to speak and add insight on a topic. I took debate in high school and often found that I would change the way I felt about things very fast after I heard someone else speak their opinion on the topic.
I found this article to be very informative and I will definitely be coming back to this blog website when I am a teacher to help integrate discussion in my English classroom.
Which leads me to the next way of teaching discussion "The Circle of Voices", This is creative way of discussion because it allows everyone to speak. The fault in my intro to fiction class was that not everyone would speak on the subject at hand, so the professor would sometimes interject and ask that student on the spot which can often create anxiety and a forced answer. If the student has time before hand to come up with a idea or response to a quote, they would be able to add something of interest to the discussion. Allowing everyone to share their thoughts and have people build on them is an important part of growth in their education, that's why I think I will try to incorporate this type of discussion into my classroom.
I find that a good discussion is on that builds ideas off of another, rather than just ending a topic and starting another. To keep ideas flowing we need to actually listen to what our peers are saying and add to it. The "Circular Response Discussion" is a good representation of this because it allows everyone a opportunity to talk and they have to talk about a certain idea, whether they agree with it or not. I find that debate can often get messy because people are butting heads but its important to challenge idea because one answer is not always the correct answer and just because no one said it was wrong doesn't mean its right.
I think its important to teach students how to debate in a positive and productive way. The "Critical Debate Instructions" is a good way to integrate debate in the classroom because it shows the students that everyone should have a voice and be allowed the rights to speak and add insight on a topic. I took debate in high school and often found that I would change the way I felt about things very fast after I heard someone else speak their opinion on the topic.
I found this article to be very informative and I will definitely be coming back to this blog website when I am a teacher to help integrate discussion in my English classroom.
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