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September Snapshot: The Importance of Discussion

There’s been a murder!

Students are given groups, clues, scratch paper, and twenty-five minutes. They have everything they need to figure out who murdered Mr. Kelley.

I started doing this activity a few years ago when I found that my students either didn’t like to participate in group discussions or struggled to have conversations with peers that weren’t their friends. I started searching around, and I found a murder-mystery discussion activity.

I adapted it to suit my needs, piloted it, and it is now part of my opening week lessons.

When placing the students in their groups for the period, I try to pair them up with people I haven’t seen them interact with as much. I want to build community within our classroom. Students are dealt clues, and they are the only ones allowed to read their clues out loud. This is an easy way to make sure everyone within the group participates and that no person dominates the conversation.

Students work together, organize information, and collaborate and communicate with one another. Once the murder is solved, we discuss the importance of sharing ideas with one another, working together, and thinking critically. The students really enjoy the activity and it does a great job of highlighting the idea that everyone can make valuable contributions to a discussion.

September Snapshot – Using One-Pagers for Brainstorming Narratives

I have used one-pagers before in the context of literature courses, asking students to respond to a book or a reading. But, during the first week of classes, when my first year writing students began thinking about their literacy narratives, I decided to try out something new (for me, at least): to use the one-pager as a brainstorming tool.

Why use a one-pager? 

• Students are creating narratives, so allowing a visual representation in the brainstorming process can help them think about important details.
• They don’t need to write complete sentences. The prompts I gave them asked more about the general aspects of their stories: Who are the characters? What visuals stand out? What are some of the keywords in your narrative? Are there quotes or ideas that could become dialogue? Etc.
• Students don’t have to be artists. They just need to convey their ideas in short textual or visual representations.

What did I ask them to do?

1. I first explained what a one-pager is and why we were using it for further brainstorming. On the previous class meeting, students had produced a list of potential topics for their literacy narrative. On this class meeting, they narrowed it down to the one they would develop.
2. I used one of the templates from Spark Creativity
3. Before starting their own, I showed students examples of one-pagers from my previous students. I explained that these were a little different because they were responses to a book rather than ideas about their own writing.
4. I projected on the screen the following list of elements to include in their one-pager:

■A border with key words about your narrative. It can also be a quote you remember.

■Tone. What tone will you take? How will you achieve it?

■An image or set of images that relate to your narrative. Think about what you are including and why. Write about them.

■Key events in your narrative. You can list them, sketch them, or both.

■Characters in your narrative. Who plays a part? How are they part of your story?

■Lines- think about dialogue (this can be “made up”)

What happened?

While including the main components, students created a variety of one-pagers. And each one addressed the individual needs of each writer. One student, for instance, brainstormed ideas learning to use a computer when they were little. In their one-pager, they sketched a keyboard that, instead of letters, was covered in what looked like chicken feet. As the student explained, thinking about their first time trying to use a computer, this is what the keyboard looked like– just indiscernible and confusing characters.

The verdict: The one-pagers worked! My students were able to brainstorm in textual and visual ways, with some structure yet also freedom. Next time, I will consider allow more time in class for this so that their one-pagers can be even more detailed.

How have you used one-pagers with students? What are some brainstorming strategies your students have enjoyed?

September Snapshot: Begin by Respecting Difference

I collaborate with students at Penn State Brandywine’s Writing Studio amid a culture clash. I tutor first-year writers one-on-one weekly; for many students, this is the first time they’re receiving sustained, individual educational attention. This year, Penn State’s professors, drawing from generations of institutional and social power, will expect students to compose using standardized citation, annotation, Standard American English grammar, and critical literacy skills. Meanwhile, our students speak and write a plurality of grammars. They grew up among multiple family and community literacies. Faculty and staff may expect students to navigate college as their primary, if not singular, responsibility. Our students hold themselves personally responsible for much more. 

Brandywine’s campus is the second most diverse student community in the Penn State system. My intention this year is to hold space for our differences. When we open intercultural dialogue, my students and I can better acclimate and build a shared community. Previously, I began every semester by reviewing the tutorial’s syllabus: I led with my expectations; I created the terms of a contract for students. I’ve defined students’ success, even delineating their acceptable boundaries for resistance (students are allowed two missed tutorials). My power defined our first communication. This year, I will ask, not tell:

• What are your expectations for yourself and for me?
• How do you define success as an individual writer and as writing partners, together?
• What will we do when we encounter misunderstanding or conflict?
• How can we hold each other responsible and accountable for our goals and intentions?

Importantly, we both share our answers to these questions. Exploring difference early and developing shared agreements will hopefully reduce students’ isolation when they encounter different values later on. Hopefully, we’ll begin a conversation that makes visible our intercultural exchange and we’ll return to that conversation throughout the semester. I have the privilege of cultivating individual relationships at the Writing Studio. I want to advance that by respecting students’ unique experiences, histories, and strengths as the foundation for their progress.

Inviting Students to Participate in Effective Feedback

Feedback. The daunting and mystical term prompting students to fill their peer’s pages with “good job” and “nice work.” As teachers, we want more­­—so we change the word to effective feedback. The result of which garners students to share “really good job!” and “I love it!” This is when teacher frustration ensues, as we pull our hair and turn red trying to explain what effective feedback actually is.

My first time hearing about the idea of effective feedback was during a PAWLP summer institute course. Our guest speaker, Brian Kelley, discussed the idea of teaching students what effective feedback is and how to use it—a simple concept that changed everything for me. In the past, I had some sort of mini-lesson that included what feedback is, with a few brief sentence starters to generate conversation among students. This was fine, but not great.

This month, the students and I will spend a day discussing and practicing effective feedback. My plan for the day begins with a writing prompt. I will show “Paul Delvaux: The Village of the Mermaids” by Lisel Mueller— since it is the beginning of the year and the climate of the room is still forming, it is important to create a prompt that students will readily share with a peer they may not hold a relationship with.

Once students complete their writing, instruction on effective feedback begins. This includes providing a definition of effective feedback and showing examples of comments/feedback from social media posts. Sharing these examples not only attracts student attention, but also provides a platform to discuss what works and does not work in the comments/feedback.

Next, it is time to review the six terms in sharing effective feedback—praise, encourage, resonate, gentle pressure, model, and respectful opposition—along with their sentence starters. This is when the English nerd comes out of me, which happens quite regularly, where the students and I engage in a lively discussion of, “which term is your favorite?” or “how would you use this with partner?” Working with seventh graders, this always turns silly, mimicking a “would you rather…” style conversation.

Finally, we practice. I use a website (http://flippity.net/) to break students up into groups—this site is worth trying in your opening months of school to randomize students into group sizes of your choice as well as generate conversation among those who do not normally engage with one another. In these groups, students will exchange their opening writing passages and begin providing each other with effective feedback. Tip: keep the terms and their meaning projected on the board as well as provide students with an effective feedback handout to complete.

This is the first of many moments in my classroom practicing this skill. Not only will students learn to review each other’s work, but they also learn to accept the feedback and revise. Revision is another lesson for another day.