In this class session, SP engaged students in discussions of a magazine article and film to tie them to course themes and a research project. Consultants provided suggestions to increase student engagement during discussions, such as having students recap prior classes. They also suggested giving students clearer frames for discussion tasks and integrating readings more fully. In their meeting, they discussed these ideas as well as addressing student tardiness and effective primary source teaching.
In this class session, SP engaged students in discussions of a magazine article and film to tie them to course themes and a research project. Consultants provided suggestions to increase student engagement during discussions, such as having students recap prior classes. They also suggested giving students clearer frames for discussion tasks and integrating readings more fully. In their meeting, they discussed these ideas as well as addressing student tardiness and effective primary source teaching.
In this class session, SP engaged students in discussions of a magazine article and film to tie them to course themes and a research project. Consultants provided suggestions to increase student engagement during discussions, such as having students recap prior classes. They also suggested giving students clearer frames for discussion tasks and integrating readings more fully. In their meeting, they discussed these ideas as well as addressing student tardiness and effective primary source teaching.
In this class session, SP engaged students in discussions of a magazine article and film to tie them to course themes and a research project. Consultants provided suggestions to increase student engagement during discussions, such as having students recap prior classes. They also suggested giving students clearer frames for discussion tasks and integrating readings more fully. In their meeting, they discussed these ideas as well as addressing student tardiness and effective primary source teaching.
FINAL REPORT Graduate Teacher: SP Date: Monday Nov. 12th, 2007 (Class session); Meeting Thursday, Dec 6th, 2007 Consultants: DG, Erin Stapleton-Corcoran Attendance: 11 Setting (Type of room, seating, lighting, etc): Small classroom with a small blackboard not very conveniently located. Students sat around a group of tables arranged in a rectangle. Sarah sat at the front of the room.
Summary: In this class session S P engaged in several different teaching tasks. She opened the class with a brief recap of the prior session. She then led a discussion on a magazine article. Then, she led a class discussion on the film A Raisin in the Sun, which served the additional purpose of showing students how to approach a later research project on primary sources. Finally, she closed with a preview of the next class session. In our meeting, we discussed ways to increase student engagement during discussions, as well as ways to better tie this session into the class as a whole, with additional review and recap at the beginning and end of this class session. Observations
Comments/Suggestions
1. SP opened the session with a short recap of the
prior class as well as a brief plan of what would be covered in the current class session.
Reviewing/recapping materials is always a great
way of letting students know where they have been and how it will relate to the current class session. Instead of providing all of this information yourself, perhaps you might instead ask student(s) to provide a recap of the prior session. This is a good way to get students talking, offers you a means to draw in students who might be less apt to contribute during discussions, and provides students an opportunity to ask questions that might not have been resolved in previous discussions/lectures. It could also offer a way to shift the focus from logistical class issues (which articles were covered last session, which materials will be covered today) to a reinforcement of larger themes running through your course, and how the previous and current class session fit into/contribute to these themes.
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article for the students to read. This article was related to a discussion from the last class session. Students read the article in class, after which they provided responses/opinions about the article. SP asked specific questions about the article when student response to the article started to lag.
FAX : ( 7 7 3 ) 8 3 4 - 0 4 9 3
It didnt seem like students had read the article in
advancesome students had the article, others did not. Was this distributed to students prior to this session? If not, perhaps you could pass out the article at the end of the prior class session, or use chalk to distribute this reading. Either way, had students arrived at class having read the article, you would have had more time to discuss the article and tie it with other assigned readings. The discussion of the article seemed to lag a little because the students had just read the piece. You can get around this problem by framing the reading for the students: tell them to look out for something specific while they read. Notice that doing this would go nicely with beginning the class by going over larger themes with the students. That way, students are reminded about what the issues are and then given a particular exercise related to those issues. This would have put them in a better position to discuss the article. Finally, in discussing the article, you might have been more focused in your questions. Perhaps you could have begun by asking students to find the adjectives used to describe black women, and then put those on the board, before asking something like, What is the picture of black women we get from this article? You might have also considered having students discuss the article in small groups, rather than reading it on their own
3. During the discussion of the Ebony article, SP
asked questions of the students. One student would answer, and she would respond and build upon his/her response. 4. SP offered statistics to support her claims about the Ebony article.
You might want to ask other students to respond to
other students thoughts, as this could help elicit inter-student discussions, rather than a student/instructor focused discussion These stats were interesting. But they were very difficult to absorb because you read them out once rather quickly. If youre dealing with lists of numbers, perhaps you could use the board or prepare a handout.
5. SP included an exercise which students came up
with questions about race and family in relation to
Students were very engaged in this exercise, and it
was a very thoughtful way to approach two issues
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the film A Raisin in the Sun. Students gathered into
small groups to discuss the film and come up with one question. This exercise served two purposes, as it facilitated a discussion of the film, as well as provided practice for students in developing a claim for their final papers on primary source materials.
6. SP began a discussion relating A Raisin in the
Sun with an assigned reading. She posed one question to tie the article and the film. When students were slow to answer, Sarah answered part of the question for the students after a minute or so.
7. SP ended class by telling students what would be
covered in the next class session.
FAX : ( 7 7 3 ) 8 3 4 - 0 4 9 3
at once. It was great that you had students write
their questions on the board, but it might have been better to have them write one at a time given the size of the board. Daniel thought that the discussion lagged a little because it wasnt entirely clear what the task was: at times it seemed like the discussion was about the movie itself, whereas at other times it seemed to be about the issue of what makes a good question (in light of the primary source document writing assignment). Giving as much of a frame to the exercise as possible will help the students in the exercise and in subsequent discussions. Erin liked that the discussion served two functionsworking through the difficulties of the paper assignment, as well as helping the students understand issues in the film. However, she agrees that it wasnt clear if students were deep in thought and working through the process, or if they were simply confused. You may want to revisit this issue again in the next class and check in with students to make sure they are comfortable with the task of writing the paper. Although the students were slow to answer, perhaps you could have given them a little more time to answer the question. If the students continued to hesitate in answering, instead of answering for them, you could have directed the students to a specific passage in the article that directly relates to and helps answer the question. Although this technique would be leading the student to an answer, it allows the students to actively do something (reading a passage), rather than sit and wait for the answer, which is what some of the students might have been doing. Once the discussion got going, several of the students seemed very engaged, and that was great. However, in the connection between the Payne article and the film, the film seemed to dominate. Perhaps points from the Payne article have been more fully integrated into the discussion This is always a good way to end the class. Had you a bit more time, it might have been helpful to briefly summarize the main points and issues that had been addressed throughout this class session, as
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SP, Daniel, Erin, and Elizabeth met on Thursday, Dec 6th. This meeting was quite straightforward. Primarily, we discussed the points listed above, and Sarah seemed to appreciate the comments and suggestions. In addition, we discussed issues of student tardiness, and the best methods to steer students to come to class on time. Since SP had included primary source materials in her lecture, Elizabeth brought in materials on teaching Primary Source materials most effectively.
