Describe:
Whole
Class Discussions:
No matter
what type of lesson plan you are preparing, you must be fully prepared and make
sure the ample time has been spent in preparation. For whole class discussion, “the teacher
plays a less dominant role”. (Slavin,
page 209). Although the role of the
teacher in this type of discussion is considered less dominant, they are
probably the most active participant. The teacher must know the content and
make sure the students are well prepared in the knowledge of the content. The teacher must ask the questions to get the
conversation started, monitor the conversation so that it does not veer away
from the topic, and make sure all students are participating. Like the example the book offers, the teacher
does not look for specific answers but tries to get the students to use what
they learned and apply it to something else or talk about it in general.
The author
states, “Before beginning a discussion, you must ensure that students have an
adequate knowledge base”. (Slavin, page 210). This is the most important part
of the preparation part for teachers in whole class discussions. The teacher must make sure the students know
the information well enough to engage in conversation with each other. Otherwise the conversation will be dry and will
end very quickly. The author does
however point out, that “Teachers can sometimes use a discussion before instruction
as a means of generating interest to a topic”. (Slavin, page 210). This is another way of using whole class
discussion.
Small-Group
Discussions:
In my experience,
small group discussions take an ample amount of planning as well. This type of conversation is where students
work in groups from four to six people. Within these groups, the students are
to have meaningful conversation over a topic determined by the teacher. The teacher’s join in this type of discussion
is to make sure the students are well prepared in the content before the conversation/discussion
begins. After preparing their content,
the teacher should assign their groups according to their needs. The teacher also must walk around from group
to group putting in their input and listening to make sure the students are on
task. Another aspect the teacher must do
is gauge how much the students know by listening to their conversations. The teacher can do this by monitoring constantly
and noting what they do know and what still needs work.
When
preparing groups the teacher also should consider strategically grouping the
students. Each group needs to have a
group leader. This group leader should be
a student that shows ability to lead others in conversation and knows the
content. Slavin states that, “Leaders should
be responsible, well-organized students but not necessarily the
highest-achieving students.” (Slavin, page 210). This leader’s responsibility is
“to make sure that the group stays on the topic and questions assigned to it
and ensure that all group members participate”. (Slavin, page 211). This can be a job that requires a lot of responsibility
that is why strategically picking these students is necessary.
Each
group also is not limited to discussing the same topic. With multiple groups, multiple topics can be
discussed. For example; one group can
discuss “Women in the Civil War” and another group can discuss “Slaves in the
Civil War”. Then, both groups can come
together to discuss these two topics.
These are considered “subtopics” that go with what the whole class is
discussing.
Although
these types of discussions require a lot of preparation, they can be very rewarding
to the classroom learning experience. The
research shows that students can learn from small group discussions because “small-group
discussions have greater effects on student achievement if students are
encouraged to engage in controversy”.
(Slavin, page 211).
Analyze:
In
whole class discussions I agree with the author that the teacher and students
must be well prepared in content. This
is very true because we have all been in the classroom where we think that the
students “know” what we are about to discuss, but once the discussion begins,
we quickly realize the students need more time to learn the content. Although the author says the teacher plays a “less
dominant” role in this type of conversation, I have to slightly disagree. This is because the teacher plays a large
role through the whole process. First,
the teacher teaches the content to the students, next the teacher opens up
discussion. Throughout the discussion
the teacher is listening, quite possibly the only one listening to
everything. The teacher is noting who is
participating, who is not, who knows the content, and who does not. The teacher is at the same time asking questions,
giving praise when needed, and guiding the overall discussion. This takes a lot of preparation and a lot of
work during the actual discussion.
I agree
with the author of the textbook that the small group discussion takes a great
amount of preparation and work as well.
Some teachers think, by assigning group work that their job is made
easier for the day. This is actually the
opposite. Teachers play a huge role in
small group discussion. First, the
teacher’s group assignments are vital.
The author does a good job pointing out what makes a good group leader. I agree with their description of a good group
leader as being “responsible” and “well-organized”. Many times students want to pick their own
groups, and while this may give them extra responsibility and freedom,
strategic grouping picked by the teacher works better for these
circumstances. I also agree with the author
that the teacher has to walk around and monitor the students to monitor
discussions. If the teacher does not do
this, this sets up the students to get off topic and off task.
Reflect:
In my
experience, I have found that I am better at administering whole-class discussion
than small-group discussions. I know
that the small-group discussions are very important and that students benefit
from them. As a new teacher, I am still
learning my classroom management style.
I really enjoy when my students work in groups and hearing their conversations.
However, I am a lot more stressed when I administer these types of discussions. I think by better picking the groups as the
author suggests this might ease some of the stress and make things run more
smoothly. This reading has changed my belief about small group discussions that
they can in fact be very beneficial when used properly.
The
chapter has helped me become a better teacher because I am now willing to use
both whole class discussion and small group discussion more often. I usually use it as an opening or closing
activity. However, after reading the
chapter I can see how it can benefit as more of a large part of the class. I really like the idea of small group
discussions with “sub-topics”. This would
mean I could give my students several different topics, and then we could
discuss them all as a class. This would
actually be using both types of discussion in the same lesson.
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