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Another excellent resource from Edutopia that can help those of us in the classroom facilitate student discussions.

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Every teacher knows that kids love to give their opinions. Opinions end up getting shared whether you're asking for them or not. Sometimes they're yelled out in class, and other times they're shared through assignments. If you're lucky, they're on topic, but sometimes they come out of left field.

Hearing what's in a student's head is one of the joys of the job. I love rich discussions. I love them in classroom discourse and online discussion groups. I've learned from my students arguably more so than they've learned from me.

But what happens if the opinion that a student shares is one that you totally disagree with? The answer, of course-and it's hard sometimes-is to keep that to yourself.

That isn't to say that we do nothing, but as role models in academic discourse, it means we have to honor opinions and focus on learning and sharing diverse viewpoints, even if that means a student settles on a viewpoint we do not share.

I do share my opinions on my own Facebook page, but the school is a sacred place for kids to learn different academic viewpoints: scientific ones, historical ones, ones from literature, ones from current events, and ones from the world around us. Then they can disseminate their own opinions based on facts. That is what maturing is all about, and we're lucky enough to get to see it firsthand.

So what I've been working to do lately whenever a student brings up opinions based on current politics, religion, or values (whether I agree or disagree) is to focus on the academic level of the argument being made- not on the opinion itself. It's what we're tasked to do: help students communicate content better.
Staying Focused on Form
I've been a writing teacher for the past 15 years and a speech and debate coach (recently retired) for nearly the same number. As such, I see and hear a lot of arguments. Some arguments are structured essays or speeches while others simply come from building a community of learners in my classroom who feel at ease in sharing their opinions. It's what you want from a classroom-a place where kids take risks in what they voice and write. Brief note here: Of course you could have a silent classroom or one that never asks students for their opinions on anything. However, I think we all know that isn't an option. We can't keep the door closed because we don't want to tackle what's behind it.

Anyway, as a teacher who encourages the sharing-out of opinions whether in the form of a quickwrite in a journal, an Ignite-style speech, or a Four Corners debate, I find that it helps to keep a few things in mind.

1. A student's opinions most likely come from the home: Students build opinions based on those around them. They overhear, they are actively taught, and they acquire their opinions by listening to and interacting with the adults in their life. It can be difficult, but our task is to be someone they want to listen to because they trust our objectivity. It's our job to inspire, not convince.

2. Give feedback on the quality of communication, not the content of the opinion: Recently, a very sweet middle school student gave me her speech on how we should all come together as a country. She presented a perfectly solid argument. Her hook, however, began by slamming those who are struggling with our new leadership. She had focused her attention-getter on a made-up piece of dialogue that was hyperbolic and over-the-top and had a whiny tone. I realized that what we were talking about wasn't a difference of opinion so much as a lack of empathy, and I focused on how much more sophisticated her argument could be if she would take a more compassionate approach (and tone).

I kept the criticism to the choices she made as a writer: her voice and the strategy of attention-getter she used as well as the examples and evidence to support her point. Her second draft, therefore, didn't stray from her initial topic, but was a more convincing speech because it more sensitively handled how we could be more unified. Her call to action, at the end, wasn't so much a demand (as it was in the first draft) but an encouragement.

3. Teach about bias, not just false information: We've all been warned about helping students recognize fake news, but it's also vital to continue teaching about biased reporting. This kind of news isn't necessarily fake, but I tell students that in an argument, any argument, if we want to be respected for sophistication, we must find ways to gather evidence through true data, not biased opinions.

Help students learn to identify the publisher of websites so that they can cite from more objective sources. Help students be more critical of those who counter with opinion, not fact. Help students learn to tell an emotional argument from a logical one, a manipulative strategy from one that is straightforward in its persuasiveness.

4. Teach the art of the counterargument: Help students recognize that the other side-no matter what side that is-has a point. Those who disagree with you aren't crazy. That also means pushing back when kids are aligned with what you believe. Make sure that any student who gives an opinion must not only back it up with fact-based evidence, but also must acknowledge the other side and be able to cite at least one fact-based resource that supports that opposing side.

This not only challenges students to argue at a higher level but also encourages empathy. Try the following outline to help kids begin to acknowledge the other side of any argument:

It's true the other side disagrees with me when they say that _____________.

In fact, according to ___________ (source), "________________" (quote evidence that proves that argument exists).

From there, a student can push back as to why that's not enough to convince them, but at least they've had to do the legwork of entering the opposition's resources and seeing what they're all about.
Student's Ideas Are Works in Progress
A child brought up one way may go through their life collecting facts and opinions from others and, as a result, may come to an entirely different decision by the time they reach adulthood. A child raised as a Democrat may grow up to be a Republican. The president of the Young Republicans might be marching for a more liberal agenda one day. No child's opinion is set in stone. And that's as it should be.

We want kids to come to class to learn something new, ready to consider changing their minds (or not). We want diverse, but educated, viewpoints.

But we must celebrate diverse views without being a voice of bias. Students are getting enough of that already. May our schools be safe places to learn facts and take risks, places where students can try out their own opinions. We want to help our students gather the strategies they need to one day make any argument they wish.

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Every teacher knows that kids love to give their opinions. Opinions end up getting shared whether you're asking for them or not. Sometimes they're yelled out in class, and other times they're shared through assignments. If you're lucky, they're on topic, but sometimes they come out of left field.

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Teaching Your Students How to Have a Conversation

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Teaching Your Students How to Have a Conversation

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From Edutopia, this is a great resource!!!!

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Maybe you have also observed how common it is nowadays for students to not know how to have a conversation. Perhaps this owes to a preponderance of talk shows in which people with different opinions rarely listen to each other, instead preferring to out-shout their opponent. Maybe it is due to changed dinner habits where more families are eating on the go rather than sitting down together and catching up on each other's day. It could be about how texting and tweeting now trump talking and listening as today's preferred forms of communication.

8 Tips for Speaking and Listening

While it is impossible to know all of the reasons, there is no doubt that learning to listen and talk is an extremely important way to broaden knowledge, enhance understanding and build community. Perhaps this is why the core standards in English-language arts include an important emphasis on developing speaking and listening, the basic tools for conversation. The eight tips below can be used regularly to help your kids learn good conversational skills.
1. Model a Good Conversation
Make a point of having one-to-two minute interactions, one-on-one, at least a few times each week with students who struggle conversationally. Share information about yourself as you might when meeting a friend or acquaintance, and show interest in the student by asking questions about his or her interests. Conversation enhancers include responses and prompts like:

If these students don't or won't share easily at first, don't give up.
2. Encourage Physical Cues
Identify procedures for having a conversation that includes appropriate non-verbal behavior. For example, you might teach a strategy like S.L.A.N.T. ( Sit up straight. Listen. Answer and ask questions. Nod to show interest. T rack the speaker.)
3. Challenge Put-Downs or Hurtful Comments
For example, if a student says, "I think what she did was really stupid," challenge with "How else can you say that without being hurtful?" If the student seems unaware, teach an alternative like, "I disagree with that." Ask the student to repeat what you said and then move on to:

"What happened to make you feel that way?"

"How would you have handled things differently?"

"Do you think there is only right answer, or could there be more?"

4. Ask Open-Ended Questions
These are questions without one correct answer, questions that stimulate discussion and can be a very powerful way to reinforce the idea that there are different views of an issue, or a set of beliefs that can be equally valid. For example: "So if Columbus came knocking on your door and told you that sailing to the New World would be an amazing adventure and there might be lots of riches there, but you might never arrive because the world was flat, would you go?"
5. Put Thinking Ahead of Knowing
When asked a question, don't accept "I don't know." Tell students that you don't require them to "know" but that you do expect them to "think." Teach them how to wonder aloud, speculate, guess or give the best answer they can. ("I'm not sure about that, but I think _____ .")
6. Have Informal Chats
Before class begins or in the hallway, ask students about their other classes, what they think about a current event, or how they feel about the outcome of a game. Share your thoughts as well. ("I thought it was more that the Jets lost the game than anything the Eagles did to win. How did you see it?")
7. Make Eye Contact
When a student is speaking in class and you are listening, give him or her your eye contact. However, gradually scan away from the speaker and direct your gaze and movement towards other students. This will often get the speaker to redirect his or her talk toward peers, and it invites peers to get and stay involved with what's being said.
8. Encourage Turn-Taking
Use an object, such as a talking stick, as a signal for turn-taking. Teach your students that when they have the object, it is their turn to talk or pass while others are expected to listen.

How do you help your students become better speakers and listeners? Please share your strategies in the comments section below.

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Teaching Your Students How to Have a Conversation

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I was recently in a third grade classroom and was struck by the presence of rules that were posted for how to have a conversation. Having visited many middle and high schools, I think these same rules could -- and probably should -- be posted there as well.

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As I Was Saying:  How and Why to Teach Discourse Markers

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As I Was Saying:  How and Why to Teach Discourse Markers

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This is something that I haven't actually used, but it seems pretty interesting. I'm interested in your take on it.

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by Stacia Levy 52,417 views

These markers are important in connecting parts of the discourse as well as contributing to fluency. In addition, they guide the listener or reader in the direction of the discourse. For example, they signal the speaker's or writer's desire to open or close a conversation. They exist in both written as well as conversational language, and there are both formal and informal markers.

Students need to know discourse markers because they are important clues in the change of direction in a lecture, a conversation, or essay. For example, it can be nearly impossible to enter or exit a conversation in American English without some discourse marker like " I just want to say..." or " Anyway..." (In my particular dialect of California English, the stress is on the second syllable in the latter, and there is a long pause following, indicating the speaker's desire to draw the conversation to a close or to move on to the next topic.) It is also important to learn which markers are more appropriate to writing or speaking. More than once I've had a student turn in a paper with the conversational marker " Last time I checked" (as in "Last time I checked, we have free speech in this country"), when the more appropriate marker would be " In my experience..." or " To my knowledge... " in a formal paper. Knowing discourse markers is important to fluency and appropriateness.
Let's begin by identifying some common discourse markers and their functions.
Common Discourse Markers in Speech

Common Discourse Markers in Writing

Ten Ways to Teach Discourse Markers

1. Raise awareness. Call attention to discourse markers while reading or listening to conversations or lectures. Once students start paying attention, they'll be surprised how often these are used in both formal and informal situations. Just as an example, in the TV series, " Monk," popular in the first decade of this millennium, the title character Adrian Monk, a former police detective with a series of mental health concerns like Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, has the verbal tic of using the marker, " Here's the thing," usually when introducing one of his obsessions to an unsympathetic audience. Playing a clip from a TV series like this to your class can get them to notice discourse markers in speech.

2. Delete markers from extended prose. Have students make substitutions. The next step would be to take a couple of paragraphs of written discourse, delete the markers, and see how well students fill in the deletions. Have them compare their answers with each other and then go over the paragraphs with a class as a whole. It can be surprising how many "right" answers students will come up with for each item: often more than one marker will work well in the same situation.

3. Write some dialogue. Have students write a conversation between two friends in the cafeteria, or a husband and wife at dinner, and so forth. Give students the basic situation and perhaps topic of conversation ( weekend plans, finals, etc.), and have them write the conversation. Tell them to include at least three conversational markers.

Discourse markers comprise a little-discussed but important area of language.

It is through discourse markers that we move and signal the direction of the conversation or writing. Knowing their correct use will help students function well in English.

P.S. If you enjoyed this article, please help spread it by clicking one of those sharing buttons below. And if you are interested in more, you should follow our Facebook page where we share more about creative, non-boring ways to teach English.

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As I Was Saying: How and Why to Teach Discourse Markers

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by Stacia Levy 52,417 views These markers are important in connecting parts of the discourse as well as contributing to fluency. In addition, they guide the listener or reader in the direction of the discourse. For example, they signal the speaker's or writer's desire to open or close a conversation.

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From NCTE, this article is particularly relevant for English Teachers. We tend to get so caught up in the content that we forget about the process!

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Talking Across Divides:  10 Ways to Encourage Civil Classroom Conversation on Difficult Issues

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Talking Across Divides:  10 Ways to Encourage Civil Classroom Conversation on Difficult Issues

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From the New York Times. If there was ever a time when this is needed, I'd say it's now!

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In December, we wrote about the nearly 3,000 comments we received on the issues of immigration, guns, climate and energy, and race, gender and identity, as well as on many other topics suggested by students themselves in our open forum. Take a look at our Ideas for Productive Discussion: Reflections on Our Civil Conversation Challenge to read our observations about the best of those conversations and what made them work, along with unedited student examples for each. _________ 1. Create classroom rules and structures that support respectful and generative discussion, online and off.
How do you handle conversations in your classroom in general? What structures and rules are in place to ensure that they are constructive and civil, yet promote real learning and growth? How do you invite all voices? What happens when someone states an unpopular opinion?

Consider talking about these issues with your students after first asking them to write anonymously about how teachers and schools in general might improve in this area. What problems do they see? What memorable experiences, good and bad, have informed their attitudes toward class discussions? What suggestions for rules, structures or guidelines might they have? How should schools balance the need for open intellectual discussion about issues with the need to protect those who may feel marginalized for some reason?

Then, have a classroom discussion about classroom discussions.

Over the years, we have published many ideas for talking about sensitive issues, and suggested structures including journal-writing, the " one-question interview," fishbowls and four-corner exercises. You might use any of those methods, or consult this " big list of class discussion strategies" from Cult of Pedagogy. Or, use a protocol called Circle of Viewpoints that focuses on helping students consider diverse perspectives on a topic.

Finally, extend your inquiry from physical classroom conversation to online discussion by borrowing a recent Reader Idea from a teacher named Kate Harris.

She explains how, when teaching a high school World Religions elective, she used the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris as a "teachable moment" to help her students observe and critique online conversations. Ms. Harris writes:

Teachers have to address the political and social issues that divide our nation and dominate our social media feeds. More important, we need to equip students to address those issues on their own, to engage with and respond to conversations and news that may be troubling or challenging, from domestic gun control and police brutality to the 2016 U.S. presidential election and worldwide terrorism. So much of our students' worlds is online. How can we get them to think critically not only about big media, delivered by giants such as Fox News and The New York Times, but also about "little media," or the comments and tweets that they write, read and repost?

_________

Though it is a pledge intended for teachers and other adults, you might share it with your students as well:

I pledge to discuss this election with civility, to treat people whose opinions differ from mine with respect, and to focus on ideas, policies and values. I will encourage others to do the same. I will speak up when I hear name-calling, stereotypes and slurs. I will do this because children are listening, and it's important that adults model good citizenship.

The organization's ideas for teaching Election 2016 can also be useful, and those under the heading of "getting along" can be applied far beyond this election season.
3. Read and discuss articles that explore the problem of a divided America.
_________
* The Divided States of America * Why Calls for a 'National Conversation' Are Futile * Polarization Is Dividing American Society, Not Just Politics *Bipartisanship Isn't for Wimps, After All * Why Facts Don't Unify Us
Your students might annotate as they read, then use one of the discussion models listed above to talk about their reactions. Here are just a few places in The Times to start:

* The Age of Post-Truth Politics and a response from a teenager - a Student Summer Reading Contest Winner, Michelle Kim - who wrote:

After reading this op-ed piece, I am more aware of my own attitude and more wary of this polarization - the "us" versus "them" mentality that often reduces comments sections into battlegrounds, when passionate ideals are not tempered by a willingness to explore possibilities in order to approach fact.

To what extent do your students experience these divides? What can their generation do to close them?
4. Consider commenting standards - and test what you learn via the Times Comment-Moderation Quiz.
_________

In " What Your Online Comments Say About You," Anna North writes about some questions researchers recently asked:

When we comment on news stories, most of us hope to say something about the topic at hand - even (or maybe especially) if it's that the author got it all wrong. But what do the comments we leave say about us - about our beliefs, our biases and how we act when the ordinary rules don't apply? And how do our comments affect the beliefs of others?

Read that article, and, for more context, perhaps the Room for Debate forum " Have Comment Sections on News Media Websites Failed?" Why do we seem to be able to say things online that we wouldn't say in person? Where do students see especially glaring examples of that?

The Times, including The Learning Network, has commenting standards put in place to maintain civility. You might share them with students, along with a related Times post, " The Top 10 Reasons We Deleted Your Comment." What do they think of these rules? Could they be useful elsewhere on the internet? Why or why not?

Then, test how well they have absorbed those standards by taking a Times quiz created by our comment-moderation team. If you were a moderator, which responses would you approve and which would you reject? Why?

Finally, have students choose a Times article that interests them and that has many reader comments. Scan the comments, noticing which ones are "reader picks" and which are "Times picks." What do they notice about the conversation? Is it generally civil? Do they think people are actually talking to each other, or do you think they are more talking at each other? In their opinion, can online conversations ever change minds?

You might start with a recent Op-Ed essay " Will the Left Survive Millennials?" Among the many comments, this one by Andy B:

Has anyone noticed that despite our increasing diversity, we are becoming a more isolated society? More prone to stare at a screen than to engage our neighbors in conversation. That same screen provides easy access to surround oneself with an echo chamber that allows for an ever growing sense of entitlement to impose one's opinion on others above all else. Both sides have moved so far away from one another that honest constructive debate is next to impossible. For the sake of our American experience, let's hope we can eventually find a unifying force. Imagine what could be done as a society if we unplugged and engaged again.

5. Practice empathy.
_________

Glenn Beck Says 'Black Lives Matter,' Because Obviously WAIT UP, GLENN BECK SAID WHAT??? - by @EvanHurst - https://t.co/2I7QSwf9ss
- Wonkette (@Wonkette) Aug. 16, 2016

Do your students know who Glenn Beck is? He is a conservative radio host and media personality who surprised many this summer when he urged his fellow conservatives to understand the Black Lives Matter movement. He then published an Op-Ed essay in The Times that begins:

In a recent speech to a group of conservatives, I made what I thought was a relatively uncontroversial point about the commonalities between Trump supporters and Black Lives Matter activists. I thought this was a simple idea, but the criticism was immediate and sharp: How dare I try to understand the "other side"?

But as people, wouldn't we all benefit from trying to empathize with people we disagree with?

Have them read what he has to say - and read some of the 919 comments Times readers made in response. What do they think of the argument he makes? What issues about which they feel passionately might they seek to understand from an opposing point of view?
6. Back up statements with evidence and sources.
_________

"These days it seems like politics and propaganda take precedence over rational discussion, especially when the conversation goes online, " writes Chris Sloan in an essay at KQED Education on " Teaching the Art of Civil Dialogue. He suggests "teaching argument the way it's been conceived since Aristotle's time."

It seems that everyone agrees that in order to be "college and career ready" our students need to know how to write argument and back it up with evidence. In reality, this approach falls short when our own assumptions are challenged; however, research shows that learning gains are greatest in these moments of "cognitive dissonance."

The winners of our annual Student Editorial Contest, in which we invite students to "write about an issue that matters to you" but back it up with evidence both from The Times and elsewhere, can provide models for how to do this. You might invite students to scroll through the essays and find a few that interest them to see how the evidence is woven in.

And this related lesson plan can help with tips and ideas. In it, we quote Andrew Rosenthal, former Times editorial page editor, who made a video for our contest and reminds students to do their research. He says:

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, you're not entitled to your own facts. Go online, make calls if you can, check your information, double-check it. There's nothing that will undermine your argument faster than a fact you got wrong, that you did not have to get wrong.

7. Listen better, and ask genuine questions that seek to help you understand rather than judge.
_________

Hearing is easy, writes Seth S. Horowitz in the Sunday Review. But "listening is a skill that we're in danger of losing in a world of digital distraction and information overload."

Many teachers are familiar with the concept of " active listening" and, via activities like "think/pair/share," have incorporated regular practice in the skill. But listening can be much more, as this famous essay from the 1930s, " Tell Me More," describes. In it, the writer Brenda Ueland says listening is a "creative force," and explains:

When we are listened to, it creates us, makes us unfold and expand. Ideas actually begin to grow within us and come to life. You know how if a person laughs at your jokes you become funnier and funnier, and if he does not, every tiny little joke in you weakens up and dies. Well, that is the principle of it.

One recent example of listening in action: a new book by the sociologist Arlie Russell Hochschild that seeks to understand " Why Do People Who Need Help From the Government Hate It So Much? " The Times reviewer writes, "A distinguished Berkeley sociologist, Hochschild is a woman of the left, but her mission is empathy, not polemics." Have students read the review to understand the role open-minded questioning and listening played in this "respectful" work, then think about how they might practice listening to those with whom they disagree.

_________

In a Student Opinion question, " Is Your Online World Just a 'Filter Bubble' of People With the Same Opinions?," we challenge teenagers to look at their social and news feeds and work to broaden them to include new perspectives and opinions.

Read our questions and invite your students to think about where and how they get their news. How diverse are their social media and news feeds in terms of the ages, races, religions, geographical locations, interests and political affiliations of the people they follow - and why does it matter?
9. Consider why 'us and them' is so ingrained in who we are.
_________

Our friends at Facing History and Ourselves frequently look at questions like these:

* Why are notions of "us and them" such a consistent feature of human societies?

* When and why does an "us and them" view of the world become especially appealing or attractive? When does this worldview develop into verbal and physical violence?

* How can individuals respond to expressions of hatred, anger and fear? What happens if we choose to remain silent?

In " How Teachers Can Help Students Make Sense of Today's Political and Social Tensions," Laura Tavares and Jocelyn Stanton list a number of resources to help teachers and students go deeper.
10. Learn about and try to counter 'confirmation bias.'
_________

Confirmation bias is the tendency to look for information that supports the way we feel about something. Carl Richards wrote about it for The Times in a 2013 piece, " Challenge What You Think You Know ":

We do this all the time. In fact, academics even have a name for it: confirmation bias. It's when we form an opinion, and then we systematically look for evidence to support that opinion while discarding anything that contradicts it.

The first place we go for feedback about what we believe is other people. And who do we ask first? That's right, people we know who are already inclined to think the same way as we do. And friends don't always tell one another the truth, even if they disagree. The result is a dangerous feedback loop that actually confirms our bias. It's incredibly hard to avoid.

The Upshot also wrote about this phenomenon, saying:

...confirmation bias may be the reason that our political debates remain intractable. After all, as you accumulate more evidence confirming your views, you're less likely to question them, and less likely to change your mind. As members of competing political tribes collect more evidence in favor of their favored views, their opinions harden, and each tribe becomes more convinced of its correctness.

So what's the solution? As Mr. Richards writes, "The only solution that I see is to purposely expose yourself to views that don't match yours." In an echo of many of the other ideas in this post, he suggests purposely seeking out views from "the other side," whether via websites, books, radio or television, or conversations with people across the aisle. And, he says, it's not enough just to seek them out:

Try, just try, to listen, to understand. See if you can get to the point where you can honestly say, "I understand the argument and can see why they feel that way."

_________

How do you foster civil conversation in your classroom? Tell us in the comments.

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Talking Across Divides: 10 Ways to Encourage Civil Classroom Conversation On Difficult Issues

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In December, we wrote about the nearly 3,000 comments we received on the issues of immigration, guns, climate and energy, and race, gender and identity, as well as on many other topics suggested by students themselves in our open forum.

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From ASCD, the old stand by structure of Socratic Seminars, which can be so powerful in the classroom. I often combine a Socratic Seminar with one of the text based protocols from SRI.

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September 1995 | Volume 53 | Number 1
Strengthening Student Engagement Pages 26-29

Lynda Tredway

In the 1980s, some schools reintroduced this technique to develop critical thinking skills as part of Mortimer Adler's Paideia Proposal for large-scale school reform (1982). Despite their record of success, Socratic seminars are conspicuously absent in most classrooms today.

Compelling Questions

How are Socratic seminars conducted? They typically consist of a 50-80 minute period once a week. Students, usually in groups of 25 or fewer, read a common text prior to or during the seminar-a novel, poem, essay, or document. Or, they may study an art reproduction. They then respond to a question the teacher (or other facilitator) asks about what they've read or seen, often voting on initial ideas.

At Paul Junior High School in Washington, D.C., for example, a group of 7th graders were engaged recently in a series of seminars on "How to Be Kind and Forgiving in a World That Is Often Not," a compelling issue in the lives of many young people. They read excerpts from two works-"On Revenge," an essay by Francis Bacon, and Middle Passage, a novel by Charles Johnson in which the main character (Ngonyama) leads an uprising on a slave ship, but insists there be no revenge against his captors.

The teacher then posed this question:

To what extent would Francis Bacon agree with the ideas and actions of Ngonyama-totally, mostly, some, not at all?

The students voted on the answer, and their votes ran the gamut. To support their positions, they cited evidence from the text, disagreeing with one another's reasoning, asking one another questions, and, in a few cases, changing their minds based on classmates' ideas. Several times during the seminars, students set up comparable situations from their own experiences with friends or in the community to determine whether they agreed with the advice of Bacon or Johnson.

The question the teacher posed required students to evaluate options and make decisions. They then participated in a conversation about it. All subsequent questions in the seminar were based on the students' ideas and contributions in response to this initial question. Thus, the term Socratic seminar. The technique is derived from an ancient form of discourse-Socratic dialogue: Through doubt and systematic questioning of another person, one gets to ultimate truth.

Conversations such as the one at Paul Junior High School are the backbone of seminar participation. As students consider different-and often conflicting-ideas, they "make meaning," that is, they think deeply and critically about concepts; look at ethical quandaries; and develop moral principles. They thereby refine their critical thinking skills and deepen their collective understanding of the material they discuss-the main objectives of the process.

Cooperative Inquiry

In Socratic seminars, students perform in a "variety of thought-demanding ways to explain, muster evidence, generalize, apply concepts, analogize, represent in a new way..." (Perkins 1993). In other words, they engage in active learning. The assumption is that when students actively and cooperatively develop knowledge, understanding, and ethical attitudes and behaviors, they are more apt to retain these attributes than if they had received them passively.

Students also are schooled in the art of intellectual discourse. In another central feature of these seminars, three to five students act as observers on a rotating basis. Using an observation form, they tally how many and what kind of contributions classmates make, whether they use evidence to support ideas and ask questions of others, and whether they yield to others when several wish to speak at once-in short, whether they demonstrate habits of conversation and mind that educators seek in students.

Students learn to paraphrase, defer, and take turns, as well as to deal with frustration when waiting. They do not raise their hands, but use body language, eye contact, and mutual respect to "read" the seminar process. Teachers in other classes report that students in these seminars exhibit these practices more frequently than do those who have not had the benefit of seminars.

Learning the Basics

Within the context of interesting issues that capture the imagination of students, the seminar process accomplishes other important educational objectives: vocabulary development, interpretative and comparative reading, and text analysis. For example, the lone student in the seminar who said Francis Bacon would "not at all" agree with Ngonyama said that Bacon required public, state-sponsored revenge and that Ngonyama never considered that option. His persuasive comments, based on close reading, encouraged classmates to examine the text in a new light.

Students also gain experience in synthesis and evaluation-the higher levels of cognition of Benjamin Bloom's much-used taxonomy. The process thereby achieves results that often elude other forms of classroom instruction. Indeed, because seminars require reasoning, predicting, projecting, and imagining, students must gather and analyze information before they can construct ideas (Woolever 1987).

Literacy and Character

Using compelling texts that lead to discussions is only one of the twin components that interest students in learning and lead to a discussion of issues. The seminar also supports intellectual and character development by cultivating ways of working together to question, disagree, negotiate, appreciate different points of view, and solve problems. As Brown (1991) has said:

Literacy is first of all a process of making meaning and negotiating it with others.... This literacy of thoughtfulness [is] used to convey both reasoning and the collaborative aspects of literacy, the caring about and working with others.

Substantive texts also help students explore their relations with others and gain intellectual and emotional maturity. This process by no means guarantees instantaneous respect for others, nor does it eliminate the conflict that is all too common in schools these days. It does, however, guide students to develop more respectful, tactful, and kinder attitudes and behaviors. And, as Heath (1994) insists:

[Schools can change if] adults are as committed to the maturation of students' character and selves as to their minds, and [if] teachers empathetically understand the interpersonal world of students as the students themselves perceive it.

Through the process of active learning and cooperation, Socratic seminars also help build self-esteem. Feelings of self-worth are inextricably tied to feelings of competence-the ability to independently construct meaning and arrive at thoughtful ideas, and to be validated for this by others. Contrary to a popular notion, self-esteem "training" will not bolster academic achievement. Instead, as Alfie Kohn (1994) observes:

Students acquire a sense of significance from doing significant things.... When students meet, make decisions, and solve problems regarding carefully chosen works, they reflect on important values.... They then get the message that their voices count ... [and] gain a sense of belonging and active participation in their community.

Literacy and Ethics

As adults, we know that the kind of moral decisions that engage students and the kind we encounter regularly are not always clear-cut. Most decisions require choices among competing values. A seminar is an important occasion for students to confront such conflicts and actively work out solutions, testing their ideas against writers and their peers.

For example, the seminar at Paul Junior High School was followed the next week by a discussion of a short story, Richard Wilbur's "The Game of Catch," in which a 7th grade boy gets even when he feels left out of a game with two other boys. The opening question: "Who is most responsible for what happens, Monk, Scho, or Glennie [the story's three characters]?"

Of course, textual evidence was central in clarifying students' understanding of motives. They talked about how the problem could have been avoided and who should have exerted leadership to see that it was. In some classes, however, students pondered other hypothetical situations, including whether the outcome would have changed if girls had been in the same situation.

Some might argue that it is the teacher's responsibility to state categorically what is right and what is wrong. But consider what happened in a seminar at Washington, D.C.'s Shepherd Elementary School. Students there read a story called "The Parsley Garden" concerning a young person's petty theft. The seminar leader did not state that stealing is wrong, but the story propelled students to discuss such complex issues as: Does one theft as a young person define you as a thief? What is fair punishment? How should it be decided, and by whom?

The following day, students returned with definitions of theft. They had obviously given considerable thought to motives, actions, and consequences.

The Teacher as Facilitator and Participant

As a seminar leader, the teacher's role is to guide students to (1) a deeper and clarified consideration of the ideas of the text, (2) a respect for varying points of view, and (3) adherence to and respect for the seminar process.

The leader questions, helps paraphrase and restate ideas based on students' responses, and helps students solve problems when they are at loggerheads. The leader also models behaviors that are expected from students-listening, thinking, and interaction:

"What I heard you say was ___."

"Can you compare Tamika's response to what you heard José say?"

"Where is the evidence in the text for what you said?"

"I want to hear what Monica thinks."

There is no need to preach protocol-when students see it, they will follow suit.

Teachers may also participate in Socratic seminars themselves. Since 1987, groups of teachers from D.C. elementary and secondary schools have met five to six times a year to do just that. The teachers repeatedly praise the renewed spirit and authentic experience of being in a learning community, rather than merely talking about creating one. They, like their students, "learn to think critically and analytically and to solve problems that are important to them" (Barth 1990).

As seminar leaders in their own classrooms, these adults have gained confidence in their abilities as teachers. At first, they report, the necessary letting go makes them feel as though the discussion might get out of control. Because they do not have predetermined questions with acknowledged answers, they must accept student responses, develop follow-up questions, and keep track of students who may be having side conversations. At the same time, they must listen intently and help students make connections and ask questions. This requires agility, but the payoff is well worth it.

The power of seminar participation was demonstrated dramatically at an action lab at ASCD's 1992 Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. Twenty-five conferees were trained in Socratic dialogue. They then observed 20 students from D.C. public schools in a Socratic seminar. Both students and conferees read "Marriage Is a Private Affair," a short story by Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe. Both groups had the same opening questions; and both groups thought, talked, and constructed meaning together about the roles and responsibilities of parents and children. Significantly, the conferees commented that the students demonstrated intellectual and emotional insights that they, as adults, had overlooked.

Revitalizing the Teaching Climate

As the process of Socratic seminars spills out of the formal seminar, it alters the whole school's instructional climate. Not only are students acquiring information in a different way, but they also are doing so at the high end of the thinking/reasoning process. Students who trust their own reasoning test better. And students whose schooling is connected to their experiences are more actively engaged in their own learning.

Because the meat of seminars are the big questions of life, students, like their adult counterparts, are involved in making decisions about how to live their lives. They are encouraged to practice habits of mind and heart that further the individual and society. As a result, the school fulfills its primary purpose: preparing thoughtful citizens for active involvement in a democratic society.

References

Adler, M. (Winter 1982). "A Revolution in Education." American Educator 6, 4: 20-24.

Barth, R. (1990). Improving Schools From Within. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Bellah, R. N., R. Madsen, W. M. Sullivan, A. Swidler, and S. M. Tipton. (1992). The Good Society, New York: Alfred A. Knoph.

Brown, R. (1991). Schools of Thought. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Heath, D. (1994). Schools of Hope: Developing Mind and Character in Today's Youth. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Kohn, A. (December 1994). "The Truth About Self-Esteem." Phi Delta Kappan 76, 4: 272-283.

Perkins, D. (Fall 1993). "Teaching for Understanding: To Memorize and Recite or To Think and Do." American Educator 17, 3: 8, 29-33.

Sylwester, R. (October 1994). "How Emotions Affect Learning." Educational Leadership 52, 2: 60-65.

Woolever, R. M. (October 1987). "A New Framework for Developing Classroom Questions." Social Education: 407-410.

Lynda Tredway is a Visiting Professor, George Washington University, 2134 G Street N.W., Washington, DC 20052. She is also Project Director of D.C. Spirit, a program for entering teachers in D.C. public schools.

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Socratic Seminars: Engaging Students in Intellectual Discourse

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September 1995 | Volume 53 | Number 1 Strengthening Student Engagement Pages 26-29 Lynda Tredway In the 1980s, some schools reintroduced this technique to develop critical thinking skills as part of Mortimer Adler's Paideia Proposal for large-scale school reform (1982). Despite their record of success, Socratic seminars are conspicuously absent in most classrooms today.

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An ASCD article that provides some excellent rationale on the importance of student talk.

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Douglas Fisher is a Professor of Language and Literacy Education in the Department of Teacher Education at San Diego State University (SDSU) and a classroom teacher at Health Sciences High and Middle College. He is the recipient of an International Reading Association Celebrate Literacy Award and the Farmer Award for excellence in writing from the National Council of Teachers of English, as well as a Christa McAuliffe Award for excellence in teacher education. He has published numerous articles on reading and literacy, differentiated instruction, and curriculum design as well as books, such as Creating Literacy-Rich Schools for Adolescents (with Gay Ivey), Improving Adolescent Literacy: Strategies at Work (with Nancy Frey), and Teaching English Language Learners: A Differentiated Approach (with Carol Rothenberg). He has taught a variety of courses in SDSU's teacher-credentialing program as well as graduate-level courses on English language development and literacy. An early intervention specialist and language development specialist, he has taught high school English, writing, and literacy development to public school students. He can be reached at dfisher@mail.sdsu.edu.

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Content-Area Conversations: How to Plan Discussion-Based Lessons for Diverse Language Learners

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Douglas Fisher is a Professor of Language and Literacy Education in the Department of Teacher Education at San Diego State University (SDSU) and a classroom teacher at Health Sciences High and Middle College.

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A basic look at student discourse.

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AMLE - Association for Middle Level Education

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You ask the students, "What is the main idea of the passage?"

Joseph responds, "Always persevere," to which you reply, "Very good, Joseph."

In the average classroom, as much as 70% of instructional time consists of these kinds of verbal exchanges between you and students or among students: teacher initiation, student response, teacher evaluation of the response/feedback. Classroom discussion, dialogue, and discourse are the principal means of exchanging ideas, evaluating mastery, developing thinking processes, and reflecting on content and shared thoughts.

Engaging students in effective classroom talk begins by creating a discourse-rich classroom culture. Begin the year by discussing what rich discourse is, the rationale for it, and answering the What's In It for Me question by specifying ways students benefit.

Another key element of building a discourse-rich culture is embedding the spirit of collaboration versus competition. Classroom talk is not only a means of students supporting each other, but also of holding each other accountable by helping clarify, restate, and challenge ideas.

Students may not participate if their thoughts are ridiculed, devalued, or ignored. To that end, establishing norms of discourse helps develop safe spaces, establishes boundaries, and moves the discussion forward.

In my classroom, the norms included specifics on how to engage in active listening, address ideas versus individuals, and respectfully disagree/question. Role-playing appropriate and inappropriate actions can give students a better understanding of their expected role during classroom talk.

A third central element of developing a culture that fosters rich discourse is helping students appreciate the processes to get there versus simply the production of right answers. Make it clear that you value students strategically thinking about, discussing, clarifying, and elaborating on ideas rather than having someone simply state the correct answer in order to save time.

Complex Thinking Processes

Does most of your classroom talk consist of students recalling or reproducing facts? Or, do they often use complex thinking strategies such as making claims supported with evidence and reasoning, discerning the author's purpose and its effect on the interpretation of text, and applying models to tasks? As you begin to reshape and enrich your classroom discourse, planning for and assessing complex thinking processes is essential.

To begin to engage students in more complex thinking processes, be clear about the distinction between difficult and complex. I ask teachers in my professional learning sessions whether the task of spelling a word such as antidisestablishmentarianism is difficult or complex. Many say it's complex. However, if students have a good grasp of phonemic awareness (sounds that build words), spelling long words may be difficult, but not complex.

Webb's Depth of Knowledge (DOK) model (recall, skill/concept, strategic thinking, extended thinking) can be used to plan and assess the complexity of thinking as well as the presence of rigor. This tool may help you plan for the type of discourse that evokes deeper cognitive processes. You might use it to:

Prompt students to describe and analyze the characteristics of texts written during the modernism period.

Identify and explain misconceptions around the discovery of America.

Justify solutions for mathematical tasks involving equations with more than one solution.

Cite evidence and use reasoning to support the claim that an unknown liquid is a mixture.

Webb's DOK is a powerful tool that can help you evoke complex thinking processes during discourse. You'll find a comprehensive graphic at http://static.pdesas.org/content/documents/M1-Slide_19_DOK_Wheel_Slide.pdf

Engage Reluctant Students

You probably have a few students who need their mouths physically pried open before they will contribute. Some are fearful of being critiqued in the courtroom of classmate opinion and find solace in silence. Others are disinterested and prefer to think about everything else except what's going on in your room. Here are a few suggestions for bringing such reticent students into the fold of rich discourse:

Invite them to discuss a topic that is important to them. Interest inventories, heart maps, and informal conversation can help you uncover such topics.

Engage them in partner talk (e.g., pair-share, turn-and-talk) or small group before whole group. More students participate in whole-group talk if first allowed to articulate, clarify, and reorganize thoughts with a partner.

Appreciate wait-time. When you want to know how to repair that leaky faucet in your kitchen or where your favorite retailer is located, you want the best answer in the shortest amount of time. Similarly, in the classroom, you may be guilty of wanting the best answer in the shortest time, given the pressure of staying on target with the pacing guide. Hardly novel but wholly effective, wait-time has been shown to improve not only the proportion of students who respond but the quality of the responses as well.

Name the strategy after a student. For instance, when a student provides a substantive contribution, call it the Johnathan way, Maureen method, or Sharon technique.

Releasing the instructional reins to your students can make you uneasy. Fear of letting go may conjure thoughts of less learning taking place, increasing disorder, and the discomfort of not driving the wheels of learning. However, when students lead discourse, they clarify their own ideas and increase their levels of cognitive and behavioral engagement. It makes their thinking visible and helps you determine the most effective subsequent instructional moves.

To introduce student-led discourse, explicitly model the talk. Have them lead discourse about a topic many are passionate about, such as social media rights for young people, as a way to get them more comfortable and familiar with leading discourse.

Figure 1
Moving from Conventional Discourse to Rich Discourse

Conventional Classroom Discourse Rich Classroom Discourse

Convergent responses

Divergent responses

Known answer questions atypically posed

Multiple answers/explanations possible

Predominantly teacher-driven and led

Students co-construct, drive, and often lead discourse

Students rarely afforded latitude to build on peers' thoughts

Students build on, challenge, revoice, and share ideas with peers

Teacher relies on a few students to carry talk

Many students eagerly participate

Aim is to have correct answer given in shortest time

Goal is to have students articulate strategic thinking

Self-Checking Discourse Quality

A few questions may help you self-assess the quality of discourse in your class:

Is the emphasis on giving the right answers rather than processes and strategies?

Do the verbal interactions follow the teacher-dominated initiation-response-evaluation pattern?

Is discourse carried by the voices of a few where the others are reluctant to contribute?

Do you often provide opportunities for students to lead the discourse?

Do you model and insist wait-time be used as a key component of dialogue?

Do you send non-verbal signals to students based on your perception of their ability to give a quick or correct response?

Does your lack of comfort with content lead you to pose more close-ended questions?

When you create a classroom culture rife with intellectually safe spaces and emphases on processes of strategic thinking versus production of right answers, you invite instructional episodes of rich discourse. Student-led discourse is a powerful way to let students take ownership of their own learning.

Jelani Jabari is president of Pedagogical Solutions, LLC, in Detroit, Michigan. jabari@pdlsolutions.com

Published in AMLE Magazine, November 2014.

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You ask the students, “What is the main idea of the passage?” Joseph responds, “Always persevere,” to which you reply, “Very good, Joseph.” In the average classroom, as much as 70% of instructional time consists of these kinds of verbal exchanges between you and students or among students: teacher initiation, student response, teacher evaluation of the response/feedback.

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Thinking Routines are a great way to establish rituals and routines for discussion in the classroom. I recommend the book, which also has some videos of classrooms in action.

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By beginning small group discussions with protocols, you establish rituals and routines that allow for both talking and listening. SRI (School Reform Initiative) has an abundance of these. While some are designed for educators, many of them are perfect for the classroom!

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Protocols By Tag | New Protocols | Spanish Protocols | Portuguese Protocols | Protocols For Youth Engagement