They say two heads are better than one, and I believe it. But this means when they are working together. That was the beauty of our discussions this week. Whether an obvious question needed to be answered, or we were digging for deeper insight into the form and content of the story, we did it together. I truly felt like everyone was listening to one another and therefore the conversation flowed. There were some great comments made and then rather than the next student trying to simply repeat the great idea previously stated, they built upon it. This pushed the discussion forward and helped to make everyones comments more meaningful.
I think the skills our class displayed this week will be very beneficial throughout the future. Not only will they help with other class discussions in high school but they will also help in the 'real world'. I think that being able to discuss well will help when communicating with others. Regardless of what field I choose to go into, there will likely be a heavy emphasis on communicating successfully with others. When you can converse well and reach insight with a team of people, you are likely doing pretty well. I hope that I continue to improve such skills and that they impact my future in positive way.
3 comments:
Jamie,
I agree with your opinion of our discussions in English. The most meaningful class discussions are always ones where input is spontaneous and where people build on each other's comments. Some of the discussions we have had in other classes have been so structured that they stifle creativity and valuable comments. Regularly, I can go a whole discussion with out saying a word, for the simple reason that I haven't thought of anything important enough to contribute. On the occasions that I do think of something good, I'll say it. However, when my grade depends on how often I contribute to a particular discussion, rather than the value of my contributions, I tend to say whatever comes to mind, intelligent or not. I do realize, however, the need for making sure everyone is engaged in the conversation, so I can see where teachers are coming from when they mark down participation points. I liked how you also talked about the future benefits of discussions like the ones we had in English about the short stories. I agree that these skills will be important later in life, so it's good that we can hone them now while we're still in school.
Brandon
Dear Jamie,
I totally agree. Your blog post reminds me of the stark contrasts that show between alot of our class discussions.
If one compared one of our free-flowing english discussions to something that we did from our other class(ie a "graded" discussion), he or she would find a HUGE level of difference in participation.
the subject, for one thing, plays a HUGE role in creating a good discussion.
I personally find it easier to discuss a piece of literature as opposed to reading 50 pages of historical documents. I mean, really, there's not much to interpret there. How do you discuss anything that's a simple matter of fact? You don't. You either restate it or talk about something surrounding it.
For a good discussion to work, one must also keep everyone's interests in mind. Everyone has to be keen on discussing the subject.
I, for one, am not just going to get up in the middle of class and start talking about birds' mating behavior.
I also find it difficult to gain any useful knowledge from a graded discussion. In addition, i find it difficult to add to the discussion because everyone makes random comments.
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