At the secondary level, there are three primary classroom discussion modalities:
- Socratic Seminar
- Fishbowl Discussion
- Harkness Discussion
Yet, in a recent article published in the English Journal, 89% of teacher respondents attest that they are becoming increasingly disinclined to facilitate these discussions because of the intrinsic limitations and flaws of each format.
According to the findings, discussions falter for the following reasons:
- A handful of students typically monopolize the conversation
- Students struggle to stay text-based
- The flow of ideas is often discursive and disjointed
- Lack of student engagement and participation
- Assessment is challenging and arbitrary at best
- The teacher overcompensates to address these issues and therefore becomes the centerpiece
Over the course of my twenty-year career, I have developed and honed a discussion modality that is rooted in the basic premises of the Aristotelian model while gamifying it.
In this live 90-minute intensive,
I will show you:
- How to get students to ask Tier II level questions of a text.
-
My gamification tools and how to apply them in the classroom (Jenga, Hungry Hippos,
Ker-Plunk, Whack-A-Mole, Corn Hole, etc.)
With your enrollment you will also receive:
- An e-copy of my textbook
- Up to ten game template slides
My Plato’s Play-Doh Discussion highlights the fact that students learn best when the elements of competition and collaboration are at play.