Discussing Discussion

Discussions can go one of two ways: really well or really badly. When they go really well it usually means someone has put a lot of thought and organization into what the teacher wants talked about and the questions are very organized to lead the discussion further. When a discussion goes really badly we can tell that the questions were not thought out very well and/or the students did not understand what was being asked of them.

Discussions are a great way to get students talking about the topic at hand. In many ways it can also show the teacher what the students are understanding and what they may need more clarification on. One specific type of discussion that I particularly liked was giving each person in the group roles and discussing a topic from the roles. For example having the students each taking on one of the main characters' persona while discussing something that happened in the chapter that day. This makes the students try to get into the heads of the characters in the book to try to understand them and their actions better. This can also help them to see why characters may act the way they do.

Another thing to think about when doing a discussion is making sure you have ground rules and you know where you want the discussion to go. If you let the students just run free reign of the discussion then most likely they will not get out of it what you are wanting from them. Kids these days easily get off topic. The teacher needs to be prepared with ideas on how to focus the group back in or make sure they do not get off topic in the first place. Ground rules and well focused questions can help the students stay on topic and learn from the discussion.

http://webshare.northseattle.edu/Sustainability_in_Healthcare/Discussion_as_a_Way_of_Teaching%20INC-Learning%20Circles.pdf