Where do I begin?
Step One: Get yourself a class set of these or some form of them The Thinking Dice and thank you to my long-time department coordinator and friend Simon Scoones for introducing these amazing little classroom tools to me.
Step Two: Read the following article in its entirety.
Step Three: Have your students PLAY with the dice. Throw random popular topics at them and have them PLAY with creating Higher Level questions. By Higher Level, I mean the top three on the Bloom's Revised Taxonomy chart below:
Step Four: After your students have practised the skill of question Creation, have them share with the class what they've Created.
Step Five: Have students read the article cited above and apply the skills they've just practiced in Step Four, Creating 2-3 Higher Level questions. Give them time and space to read and absorb what they're reading. If your school is not on a block schedule assign Step Five for home learning. Preparation for the discussion is the key. If necessary, I've used a focus question such as: "The Harkness discussion is the future of education." Evaluate the validity of this statement or To what extent do you agree with this statement or Discuss the validity of this statement.
Step Six: I have explained to my students that they are responsible for Creating questions, they are not responsible for answering their own questions.
Step Seven: Time to run a Harkness about the Harkness. If all students are prepared with questions then there should be plenty to talk about.
Step Eight: Read the Round Table Expectations aloud or have a student read them aloud or if the gods of technology have shined into your class, project it on a SmartBoard.
Step Five: Have students read the article cited above and apply the skills they've just practiced in Step Four, Creating 2-3 Higher Level questions. Give them time and space to read and absorb what they're reading. If your school is not on a block schedule assign Step Five for home learning. Preparation for the discussion is the key. If necessary, I've used a focus question such as: "The Harkness discussion is the future of education." Evaluate the validity of this statement or To what extent do you agree with this statement or Discuss the validity of this statement.
Step Six: I have explained to my students that they are responsible for Creating questions, they are not responsible for answering their own questions.
Step Seven: Time to run a Harkness about the Harkness. If all students are prepared with questions then there should be plenty to talk about.
Step Eight: Read the Round Table Expectations aloud or have a student read them aloud or if the gods of technology have shined into your class, project it on a SmartBoard.
Step Nine: Ask students to share their questions one by one and track the discussion on the sheet below or use the new Ipad application available from Apple or a dry erase marker and a portable whiteboard will do.
Step Ten: I usually ask for a volunteer and always rotate the responsibility from student to student to scribe for the group. I have used TitanPad or Google Docs either will do. Please remind them they are not a court stenographer, but just taking notes.
Your turn to sit back, take notes, amaze in watching their minds work. See where they go, hold back from interfering. If they're going off topic or being silly give them a little time. Sometimes just a look can get them back on track.
*Not all Harkness Discussions are AMAZING! They will learn from the bad ones too. So will you.
Your turn to sit back, take notes, amaze in watching their minds work. See where they go, hold back from interfering. If they're going off topic or being silly give them a little time. Sometimes just a look can get them back on track.
*Not all Harkness Discussions are AMAZING! They will learn from the bad ones too. So will you.