I do not think the class discussion went well... Sure, interesting ideas were brought up, but I think the questions from SparkNotes shouldn't have been discussed at all (unless someone was asking for a different answer than one previously discussed).
I think the discussion would have been more engaging if people asked their own questions about the book. And since it is the student's question, they would be interested in the answer, which may lead them to further question the given answers, which would get a discussion going...
In addition, the key to the teacher's mouth should be given to someone more interested in their peers' input rather than the input of someone more experienced in these discussions :) [And if the teacher must input to start a new discussion, hand a question off to a student on a sticky note, whom may choose to read it or not. But the chosen student has to ask a question.]
I felt that the Socratic Discussion was quite interesting. At times, there seemed to be topics of discussion that were already mentioned in the book. I did not like how people chose to propose questions that were already answered (if, of course, they were looking for an double meaning to something, then they did not make it clear that they felt there was more than what was on the surface).
One thing that I felt was good was the fact that we were able to get everyone to participate in a discussion at least once, with targeting questions to certain people. I feel that this helped me personally, in getting more comfortable with the circle.
I agree with Nancy's proposed method of passing the teacher's topic of discussion on a sticky note to a student. Mr. Taylor tends to do that, and i suppose it is successful in keeping a somewhat "intellectual" discussion going.
I think the class discussion sucked. Half the time I couldn't even hear what the hell people were saying because: -The weed whacker/lawn mower noise, whatever. -They don't know how to project their voices. -They're afraid to say what they think so they say it quietly.
For the people who do speak, who cares if their answers somehow happen to coincide with those of the so-called experts? At least they're saying something...Which, imo, is much, much better than sitting silently and gawking at lord knows what.
The people who don't speak need to get past their mental blocks. How can someone sit there, in the circle, and not have anything to say? Whatever. I say, man up and speak you mind.
Possibly, people just didn't want to speak because they have nothing to say about the book. I, personally, hate the book. I could give a rip about the story and characters, etc. If I didn't pay 4 dollars for it, I could use it to fuel Greg's fireplace, hahah. HOWEVER I still find things to say about it. Like...I think Sula's a slut. Well, by definition, she is.
Anyway, there were a lot of sidebar conversations (as always!). Many great ideas were brought up in those. For example, Rachel said Shadrack could possibly be a Christ-figure. Mmm, interesting, lol.
And oh myg, I sat way too close to Mark. He always mumbles stuff to himself when he doesn't agree with someone's idea and when he wants to say something he doesn't follow through. 0_0!! Poor thing, though. He got a teddy bear thrown at him. (I typed teedy bear, but I fixed it).
I think it was fine for us to discuss the SparkNotes questions. Only questions 1-3 had the expert's answer. But whaaatever.
I thought it was funny how Tiffany came late to class and started repeating the same stuff we said when we first started. Deja vu much.
Hm, I have more to say. Buuuut, gotta clean my room before Christmas. SO Merry Christmas, ya'll!
i actually like in and out socratic a lot better. i think our class is too big to have a full class discussion and sometimes in small groups, some of us bring out the best in each other. I think we had the socratic too late because by the time we were asking all these questions, it was SUPER repetitive. I didnt care how interesting the ides were, i was so tired of hearing them. oh well i thought it stimulated my mind.
We should have some more Socratic Circles. Like Nancy brought it up, we shouldn't have discussed the questions from SparkNotes. Next time, each student should bring his/her questions up to the discussion circle which it is supposed to be.
Next semester, I hope everyone is prepared for the Socratic Circle so that the class and the individuals can be fully engaged with the text.
Hmm, this is pretty late but I guess it's better now than never. I didn't know we were supposed to blog on the Socratic. Then again, I'm never quite sure what we're supposed to blog about. Oh well.
Overall, the class discussion was similar to all the other ones we had. I think it's more difficult when we have a full class discussion because there is less of a variety of people talking. Usually the same people talk and the same ones are the ones taking notes or whatever. Using the inner-outer method is probably better because people feel more comfortable sharing their opinions. However, if we use the inner-outer method usually the second group runs out of things to talk about so I don't know if this is really a solution. Also, I don't really like having to take notes on one specific person when we do the inner-outer circle, which I know is the whole purpose of doing it, because there seems to be added pressure. The entire Socratic process is interesting, but I don't know how helpful they really are in the end.
As for the Sula discussion, it was alright I guess. Same old, same old, in my opinion. We talked about a lot of the same things that we had discussed in our smaller groups as well as the study questions so it got quite repetitive. Maybe it would be helpful if we think of our own questions to ask beforehand or something, I don't know. I think there is probably a better method out there for class discussions, but I have no idea what is it and if Socratics are the best solution.
8 comments:
I do not think the class discussion went well... Sure, interesting ideas were brought up, but I think the questions from SparkNotes shouldn't have been discussed at all (unless someone was asking for a different answer than one previously discussed).
I think the discussion would have been more engaging if people asked their own questions about the book. And since it is the student's question, they would be interested in the answer, which may lead them to further question the given answers, which would get a discussion going...
In addition, the key to the teacher's mouth should be given to someone more interested in their peers' input rather than the input of someone more experienced in these discussions :) [And if the teacher must input to start a new discussion, hand a question off to a student on a sticky note, whom may choose to read it or not. But the chosen student has to ask a question.]
Also, no bear throwing; it's unprofessional.
-Nancy
I felt that the Socratic Discussion was quite interesting. At times, there seemed to be topics of discussion that were already mentioned in the book. I did not like how people chose to propose questions that were already answered (if, of course, they were looking for an double meaning to something, then they did not make it clear that they felt there was more than what was on the surface).
One thing that I felt was good was the fact that we were able to get everyone to participate in a discussion at least once, with targeting questions to certain people. I feel that this helped me personally, in getting more comfortable with the circle.
I agree with Nancy's proposed method of passing the teacher's topic of discussion on a sticky note to a student. Mr. Taylor tends to do that, and i suppose it is successful in keeping a somewhat "intellectual" discussion going.
oops,I forgot to put my name o.o
- Alyssa (:
I think the class discussion sucked.
Half the time I couldn't even hear what the hell people were saying because:
-The weed whacker/lawn mower noise, whatever.
-They don't know how to project their voices.
-They're afraid to say what they think so they say it quietly.
For the people who do speak, who cares if their answers somehow happen to coincide with those of the so-called experts? At least they're saying something...Which, imo, is much, much better than sitting silently and gawking at lord knows what.
The people who don't speak need to get past their mental blocks. How can someone sit there, in the circle, and not have anything to say? Whatever. I say, man up and speak you mind.
Possibly, people just didn't want to speak because they have nothing to say about the book. I, personally, hate the book. I could give a rip about the story and characters, etc. If I didn't pay 4 dollars for it, I could use it to fuel Greg's fireplace, hahah. HOWEVER I still find things to say about it. Like...I think Sula's a slut. Well, by definition, she is.
Anyway, there were a lot of sidebar conversations (as always!). Many great ideas were brought up in those. For example, Rachel said Shadrack could possibly be a Christ-figure. Mmm, interesting, lol.
And oh myg, I sat way too close to Mark. He always mumbles stuff to himself when he doesn't agree with someone's idea and when he wants to say something he doesn't follow through. 0_0!!
Poor thing, though. He got a teddy bear thrown at him. (I typed teedy bear, but I fixed it).
I think it was fine for us to discuss the SparkNotes questions. Only questions 1-3 had the expert's answer. But whaaatever.
I thought it was funny how Tiffany came late to class and started repeating the same stuff we said when we first started. Deja vu much.
Hm, I have more to say.
Buuuut, gotta clean my room before Christmas.
SO
Merry Christmas, ya'll!
teeHEE
~Chloe
i actually like in and out socratic a lot better. i think our class is too big to have a full class discussion and sometimes in small groups, some of us bring out the best in each other. I think we had the socratic too late because by the time we were asking all these questions, it was SUPER repetitive. I didnt care how interesting the ides were, i was so tired of hearing them. oh well i thought it stimulated my mind.
We should have some more Socratic Circles. Like Nancy brought it up, we shouldn't have discussed the questions from SparkNotes. Next time, each student should bring his/her questions up to the discussion circle which it is supposed to be.
Next semester, I hope everyone is prepared for the Socratic Circle so that the class and the individuals can be fully engaged with the text.
Happy New Year!
Hmm, this is pretty late but I guess it's better now than never. I didn't know we were supposed to blog on the Socratic. Then again, I'm never quite sure what we're supposed to blog about. Oh well.
Overall, the class discussion was similar to all the other ones we had. I think it's more difficult when we have a full class discussion because there is less of a variety of people talking. Usually the same people talk and the same ones are the ones taking notes or whatever. Using the inner-outer method is probably better because people feel more comfortable sharing their opinions. However, if we use the inner-outer method usually the second group runs out of things to talk about so I don't know if this is really a solution. Also, I don't really like having to take notes on one specific person when we do the inner-outer circle, which I know is the whole purpose of doing it, because there seems to be added pressure. The entire Socratic process is interesting, but I don't know how helpful they really are in the end.
As for the Sula discussion, it was alright I guess. Same old, same old, in my opinion. We talked about a lot of the same things that we had discussed in our smaller groups as well as the study questions so it got quite repetitive. Maybe it would be helpful if we think of our own questions to ask beforehand or something, I don't know. I think there is probably a better method out there for class discussions, but I have no idea what is it and if Socratics are the best solution.
Oh, I forgot to add my name too...
-Kris
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