Second and seventh periods began looking at some knew reading engagements that we’ll be using throughout the year. These are “Think Alouds” and “Say Something.” To introduce and begin practicing these skills and to activate prior knowledge for the book we’ll be focusing on the first quarter, we looked at an informational text about slave codes. This text had embedded skills that we’ll be eventually applying to new texts. Below are the notes we made about the texts (all images from second period’s work).
First and fourth periods continued working with literary analysis, specifically working to analyze characters and how an author develops them. To do this, we used another, modified version of the Socratic Seminar. We had a speakers’ circle with a coaches’ circle that advised the speakers during breaks, and four evaluators (a comment counter, a quote counter, a transition counter, and a big board note taker) all working to determine the natures of the two main characters of “Thank You, Ma’am.”
Big Board note takers made the following notes:
First period
- Ms. Jones forgives Roger.
- Roger had a dirty face
- On page 138,” it said Roger was very young.”
- Ms. Jones gave Roger the money for the shoes
- She fed Roger
- She was trying to change her ways, and be nice to others
- she did bad things in her past
- Roger learned his lesson
- Roger is a horrible purse snatcher
- He is inexperienced
- Maybe she wanted a better lifestyle for herself
- was Roger under peer pressure to steal the purse
- Roger is probably going to go back to stealing purses
- He didn’t say anything at Ms. Jones house
- He was probably trying to provide for siblings
- Did he even buy the shoes
- probably in the past Ms. Jones probably purse snatched and someone like her set her straight
Fourth period
- Ms. Jones says that she has “done stuff too.”
- She doesn’t have a son, maybe she wants to care for someone.
- Maybe she lost her son.
- Tells Roger to “wash his face.”
- Takes Roger home.
- Ms. Jones might have been strictly disciplined as a child.
- She says she will not steal.
- May have tried the same thing Roger did.
- Maybe reminds her of that experience.
- She said that she wanted things, too, as a child.
- She tries to teach Roger a lesson.
- Roger may be poor.
- He says he has no one at home.
Homework
- English I Honors:
- complete a Schaffer paragraph about either Miss Bates Washington Jones or Roger, the characters in “Thank You, Ma’am” and turn it in online here;
- make a comment on this update about your views on today’s Socratic Seminar: one thing you liked and one improvement you’d make. (Remember: first name and last initial only!)
I like this way of interacting in class because its fun but also it allows you to express your ideas. one problem i think there is in this way of interacting is not everyone gets to express their ideas.
I much preferred this Socratic seminar to the previous one we did. It was much more controlled than the first, and had rules. The idea of the coaches and “losers” was wicked. I think that maybe next time we could have a certain signal suggesting that we wanted to speak, like maybe the “quote signal”. There were still some moments of people talking over others, despite there being a rule against it.
I really enjoyed this one. Being in pairs and coming up with what to say was a lot easier. Previously with the larger groups it was difficult to settle on a common ground on what to include in the seminar. I was a coach and I liked being able to sit down with my partner and discus what was done well and what should be done to keep the discussion alive. Near the end of the socratic seminar I felt that it was really cool the topics being brought up were very deep like: “Did [Roger] end up buying the shoes?” One thing I would change would be like setting up rules about howling you can talk.
I’m going to have to agree with Dylan sometimes i wanted to speak but someone went on and on with their thoughts and even change the subject and fully talk about about or state things about that subject and the move on without someone share their opinion. oh and also Dylan kind of said what i was going to say not specifically but kind of the basis of my unsaid statement
I prefer this Socratic seminar to the previous one we did. It was a lot more organized than the other one, but it would be hard to be a “loser” because you would have to count everything that everyone said instead it should be a full on argument which would have been more intersecting and fun
I liked the fact that you had a partner in this version while in the other you had a group. One thing that I think would make it better would be that after round one the speakers amd coaches switched.
I liked the fact that this seminar was more organized than the last. One thing i didnt like was that the topic hardly transitioned. That made it harder for the “losers” to do their job.
I thought that this was more challenging than the pervious acitity we did and i really liked that. One problem that i saw was that not everyone had a chance to express there ideas and what they thought about the story.
I thought this seminar was better than the last one. One thing that was better was that you had one coach instead of a group. This made it easier to know what you should say when your partner is analyzing the debating. One thing that I would change is that the coaches and talkers would switch our after the first round.
I liked this seminar more than the last one. I think it was better because you got to talk individually with your coach so that you could get pointers. It was easier to know what to say when you could discuss it first. One problem that I saw was that not everyone was able to speak because the same people were talking the entire time. I also thought we should have all been discussing one topic instead of each group having a different topic because not all the topics go talked about.
I liked the fact that we all had a partner and that the people on the outside got to have some part in it like coaching. One thing I would change would be to let the people in the middle and the people on the outside switch and talk. There were maybe one or two people who never got to talk. I think this was much more organized than the first activity we did.
I enjoyed this seminar. I liked how it was two people instead of a group. I also thought it was good that you had a chance to talk to your coach and figure out what to say. One thing I would like to change would be that everyone had a chance to speak, as it seemed that some people spoke so much and others didn’t get the chance to.
I liked this seminar.I wouldn’t say if it was better or worse than the last one.The thing I liked about the seminar is that more people were involved in the debate.What I did not like is that we didn’t have a clear topic to debate on and it was hard to vary the topic.
I personally enjoyed this Seminar much more than the previous one. I loved the idea of partners instead of groups and the whole “loser” concept. Even though I enjoyed it very much, there are a few things I would change. Despite have a rule against talking over one another, it was a minor problem. Some people didn’t get to talk at all in fear of “interrupting”. Also this makes the “losers” job a bit more difficult. I suggest we have some way of signaling that we would like to speak. One other thing is that, if it were up to me, the coaches an speakers would switch out after round one.
I really enjoyed this Seminar way more than the first one we did because I really like how we had a partner and not 3 other people in your group. I also liked how there was time to help your partner in the middle. The only thing I would change is the fact that we cant whisper side notes to our partner during their conversation. Although overall I really enjoyed this activity.
This system of debating was more organized and more people were participating than the last. I didn’t like that there were a lot of people talking over one-another it made it hard for the “losers” to keep track of who is talking. Maybe we could add in a talking stick of some sort or just simply raise our hands for right to speech. I also think think that we should have a limited time to talk, so that we learn to get to the point quicker and that way more people have a chance to talk back.
I liked the new version of the Socratic seminar more than the what we did last time, because more people could share their ideas rather than just 6 people, plus having coaches is a good thing to do, because if a person didn’t know what to say, they’d be lost without someone there to back them up. Something I would change about this is that there aren’t any “losers”, I just don’t see the point in them, now if we were debating and who ever talked about there idea the most would win, then there would have to be someone keeping track, but last time, we were just talking, so the “losers” weren’t very important.
I really liked doing the Socratic seminar. I felt like we could actually share our ideas instead of being shot down. I liked being able to talk to your coach though, because sometimes you run out of ideas. But I felt like we couldn’t get our word in because everyone was talking over everyone. Over all I thought it was a really fun thing to do.
I liked how we were able to coach our partners and help them if they needed it. Also I liked how more people could share ideas. I wish there wouldn’t be a counter. It doesn’t really mean anything. It just keeps that person from participating in the debate.
I really enjoyed this seminar. I think working in partners is more effective than working in groups because there are less distractions. I liked that there was more than one topic to discuss because it created a deeper conversation and kept the conversation going. If I could change something about the seminar, I would have wanted to understand what the purpose of the counters were. I also would have preferred that instead of having a halftime where the coaches further prepare their partner, the coach switches with the partner.
I liked the first Socratic seminar better than the one we did Friday. One thing I would change is letting ever one talk because once some people started talking then they didn’t stop . also I would change that someone would be able to win the debate and make it more like a debate. Something I liked was that we got to hear ALMOST everyone’s opinion on the topic. Also we had a coach to help know what we had to say.
I was pleased with the new changes and rules in the Socratic seminar that we did in class. I liked that each person had a specific job that they kept, and that instead of working in groups, we worked as partners. A thing that could be changed is the amount of time that the coaches get with the speakers. Also I would like if the coaches could help their partners, while the inner circle is in discussion Regardless of the changes that I would like to made, I enjoyed the new Socratic seminar activity that we did in class.
I enjoyed this seminar better than the first seminar we did. one thing I like about this was being able to tell the speaker what to say. one thing I would change is making each person talk at least once. Another thing I want to change is we all have one topic for a better conversation. I also want the coaches to be able to talk.
I enjoyed this Socratic Seminar better than the last one. I like the concept of having partners instead of groups. I also liked that we took breaks so that the coach could discuss something their partner needed to say, or something like that. One thing I did not like was the fact that every time I tried to say something, or started to say something, I was interrupted by someone else. If there was some sort of way to show you wanted to say something, that might be better! That was really the only negative comment I had. I really enjoyed it!
I liked this seminar more than the first one we did. The main reason I liked this one was that we had one partner, so there help was more effective. The other thing I liked was when we were in group last time there would be two people no helping very much and this seminar solved that problem. The only thing I would change was that the coach could not choose to come in and talk.
I liked this Socratic Seminar much better than the first. I liked the idea of partners, instead of groups. Another thing I liked is having the Big Board notes available on the website.
I liked this Socratic Seminar better than the first one because it was less talking over each other. I got to get my coach and I’s points about the story across. I would prefer having a certain person or signal being given to be able to speak because many people were getting cut off while talking. Otherwise i enjoyed the Socratic Seminar.
I liked this seminar a lot more than the other one for a lot of reasons. One was the fact that we got to have “coaches” instead of big groups. One thing I didn’t like is that since there were so many people I didn’t get to speak a lot. I kept trying to but I couldn’t. Other than that I liked this a whole lot more the other one/
This seminar was better than the last one. i think every body got to talk more and we worked with partners instead of in groups. the only thing i would change is some people talk over others and the subject is changed before you get to speak
This socratic seminar was a great way to hear everyone;s but was also a little more confusing. it was easier to plan what point you wanted to make it when you’re in pairs instead of large groups.One thing I didn’t care for was that only one person from the pair got to talk. I think it could have been better if the two students switch so everyone gto to speak.
I like the first seminar better because i could actual say something. In the second one I kept getting interrupted when I tried to speak. It was still pretty fun fun to hear what everyone had to say though.
I thought this activity was not as fun as last the last one. A good thing about it was that there were more jobs to do. That made it more exciting for people. One negative thing about this activity was that it took a while to start up. It would start out slow and take a while to go more fluently.
I really enjoyed doing the seminar in class Friday. I real like everyone was included whether they were coaches, speakers, or helping Mr. Scott. the only thing I have an issue with is that its hard to get your topic into the conversation because you don’t want to interrupt someone while their talking, but if you don’t, chances are, you wont get to speak because everyone else is talking. I also tried to use transition words to make it sound like I was reading my ideas and they were being written. I also really enjoyed having a coach. when you run out of ideas, your coaches can think of great topics while everyone is talking. What I thought about the seminar is that even with a short story like this one, you can go on and on with new ideas and inferences about the story and about your topics. I had a lot of fun in class on Friday and I hope we can do this again soon.
I loved the seminar. I thought it was a lot easier than the last one,and more fun. It was easier to get ideas across because everyone wasn’t worried about saying what they could without getting tapped out. I didn’t, however, like that we only got one break to talk to our “coach”.
I like how we had coaches who could take note of things that we missed, but I agree with Dylan on how we should have had a signal that let’s others know you want to speak. There should also be a limit on how much you could say at one time. But overall, it was fun
I liked the socratic seminar because it wasn’t a boring method of getting all our points across. It was fun and we were able to be very active. The only thing that i think should be improved is that students need to try not to interrupt when others are talking.
I enjoyed being in the Socratic circle because it gave it gave me a chance to hear what my classmates had to say about Roger and Luella. I did notice that no one used any transition words. I listened, at first, to make sure I was not missing them. After a few sessions, I had to walk around and remind everyone to use more transition words. In the end, many of my classmates still were not using them but some of them got the message.
I enjoied what we did with the sniper more.
The Socratic seminar we did in class was fun, even though it was hard for us “losers” to keep track of things. I think we need some type of method to decide who gets to talk next, because, sometimes people didn’t get to say what they wanted before the others moved to another topic.
The Socratic Seminar is better than our old method of doing debates & or presenting/ comparing work. I think all of your English students enjoy using the new and modified Socratic Seminar method. Besides the side conversations and the interruptions the Socratic Seminar is an overall a excellent method. I think we should keep this method until we find one better.
I really like this seminar. I thought it was a little better than the last one. My only little complaint that it was a little short but that was because we were limited on time. I still loved it though