Discussions: Can they help students grow more and perform better? Jennifer Porter- Cienega High School David Shingler- Empire High School

Bell Work How familiar are you with the Socratic Seminar method? How often do you use the Socratic Seminar method? What are you hoping to gain from today’s presentation?

Presenters Information David Shingler 11 years in Vail Advanced Placement Teacher 9-12 grade all levels 30 Students Jennifer Porter 10 years in Vail Variety of levels and abilities 30 students

Objective Become familiar with different types of Socratic Seminars to enhance “performance” Learn discussion strategies designed to provide students different ways to demonstrate understanding Larger school vs smaller school strategies and assessment Understand how discussions can help students “grow more” What does grow more mean for you and your students? How does this affect standardized tests?

What is a Socratic Seminar? Based on the belief that there is power in asking questions Discussion-based Revolves around texts and levels of questioning Utilizes reading, listening, and verbal skills Requires preparation by both student and teacher Clear expectations and roles Assessed

Small School Techniques

Dialogue Session - Free for All There is a prize- the goal is to win it and anything goes It may be the instructor's approval It may be one's own self-esteem “You win by looking not just smart, but by looking smarter.” Just as important “...to make them look dumb as to make you look smart”

Dialogue Session - Beauty Pageant Parading “my idea” Seeks your admiration Get ready for next appearance while you're “parading your idea”. Not paying any attention to anyone else’s ideas

Dialogue Session - Distinguished House Tour Advances an idea. The rest of the seminar spends some time exploring her house. Ask questions, explore for inconsistencies, try hard to understand the idea Good grasp on it leads to the offering of a different and another idea Whole different point of view on the same subject- explore that “house” Are not compared nor does one person claim theirs is better. Interesting “houses in their own right and each worth exploring”

Dialogue Session - Barn Raising Community gathers to help them build the barn (idea) Student describes the idea (opinion) Talks about the kind of idea they had in mind, Picks the topic and context for idea Community pitches in and builds idea Often the community would suggest changes and improvements as they are discussed

Dialogue Session Class Size: 30 (5 groups of 6) Grade: Senior Objective: Students will participate in: A Barn Raising discussion Using textual evidence and notes Evaluate and synthesize readings from class Topics will be determined by students (after 4 weeks through end of the year) or teacher (1st 4 weeks) to promote critical thinking skills and communication of ideas Teacher can be in or out of discussion- ask permission of students

Dialogue Session Pre-discussion: Students should have read “The Seminar” by Michael Khan Students come up with a topic for discussion May need prep if using lower grade students Discussion 15-20 minutes Provide students with paper with notes Post discussion- 5-10 minutes How did the discussion go? Strengths vs weaknesses Ask students what type of discussion (of the 4) they had and why? For next time what is the goal for each?

Discussion Log Activity Class Size: 30 (4 groups of 7-8) Grade: Senior Objective: Students will participate in: A Barn Raising discussion Using textual evidence; one note taker to take down comments from the discussion Evaluate and synthesize readings from class Topics will be determined by teacher to promote critical thinking skills and communication of ideas from a reading 2 MVC (Most Valuable Comments)

Discussion Log Activity Procedure Pre-discussion: Notebooks with prompts List of students per group How to separate? What are you looking to get from students? Discussion: 7-10 minute discussions Table Leader Recorder- record important thoughts or ideas Rotate notebooks clockwise so every group gets to discuss the prompt Post discussion- 5-10 minutes Groups end up with original notebook Select 2 responses for MVC and give student credit aloud Closing comments

Large School Techniques

Small Group Share-Out Goals are: Least formal Keeps students: Check understanding Demonstrate knowledge Least formal Keeps students: Focused Comfortable On their toes Multi-faceted Support Spiraling Usually not graded on its own

Circle Discussion Whole class, varied sizes Goal is an exchange of ideas and new understanding Usually paired with in-class reading Whole class is involved at one time Less structured but still moderated More student-driven and varied conversations Can be challenging to grade Usually participation-based

Inner Circle - Outer Circle Whole class, varied sizes Goal is to demonstrate understanding and analysis More structured than many discussion formats Set times for writing & discussion Allows class to be grouped into smaller ‘chunks’ Pushes all students to be engaged all the time Provides focus point(s) Grading done in two ways Written Verbal

I-O Classroom Set-Up

Sample Inner Circle - Outer Circle Students read and work through all of Slaughterhouse Five Teacher sets up instructions and timing for I-O in the next class period Initial question answered independently for homework Class divided in half Inner Circle starts with discussion question and discusses without repetition (10 minutes) Outer Circle silently takes notes Students switch places, then NEW Inner Circle starts discussion where the first left off (10 minutes) New Outer Circle silently takes notes Whole class discusses ideas (without repeating) and comes to new ideas/understanding Closing question (based on class discussion) answered independently in writing Initial question: SH5 is often regarded as a satirical novel. Do you think it is? If so, in way way(s) does Vonnegut use satire to present his views on war and its effects on society? If not, what is his purpose and how is it shown in the text? Closing question: Would Vonnegut’s satire (and opinions) be as relevant to today’s society? Explain & support.

Standardized Testing Impact Dialogue Session Small Group Share Out Textual Evidence to support rationale Varied perspectives- listening and responding Allows students to both support and push each other in smaller format Analysis (break down information) Every student has a voice to add to the dialogue- CONFIDENCE BUILDER Evaluate the information and determine “best” for them vs best with most evidence on the test Discussion Log Activity Textual Evidence – evaluation and analysis Circle Discussions

Closure What are your goals for using this technique? What is your most valuable takeaway from this presentation?