Saturday, February 6, 2010

For the past two days I have been attending a workshop on Paideia seminars. I have found this workshop challenging and thought provoking. I can see many opportunities to use it in both my ELA and Social Studies classroom. For those of you who may be infamiliar with this technique it is a collaborative, intellectual conversation in response to a piece of text. It is structured around open ended questions that allow students to interact with text and peers and develop their own understanding. The conversation is facilitated by the teacher but she/he does not participate in the conversation other than to pose the questions, and keep the conversation moving. The trouble I am having as I practice writing questions, is that I can write opening questions, and closing questions but am having difficulty writing the core questions. These are the questions at the center of the "learning" and conversation. Has anyone practiced this type of seminar in their classroom? How did you decide what your core questions would be? What was your starting point? Please share. Thanks.
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2 comments:

  1. Patricia DeasFebruary 6, 2010 at 6:04 PM

    Ann, I can't wait to try the paideia information out in the classroom. Up until this point most of my "discussions" in class have never been any deeper than the surface material. Granted, alot of that was my fault because I didn't know how to set up a higher order thinking situation. Now we have two different classes to discuss and help each other figure out.

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  2. colleen taylorFebruary 7, 2010 at 5:57 AM

    Hey Ann,

    I find using Paideia stimulating and rewarding. I am by no means an expert at the seminar, but I find using theme questions--ones that require students to relate the text to their own lives are ones which stimulate the conversation. Often, you will find students themselves, after discussion, bring up some interesting questions of their own.Try and use a comtemporary example relating to text, or a character within the text, and try to get them to place themselves in the situation. We are finishing Romeo and Juliet, so one of my questions may be "What part of the deaths of these two young people did Friar Lawrence contribute?" Ask them to place themselves in his shoes, were his actions justified and explain. As you proceed, you will be amazed at the level of discussion your students are capable of producting. Keep up the good work

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