Pushing to College Level Discussion: A Week-Long Approach

This post will be most relevant for those who teach upper-level grades. One of the most difficult things to do in preparing students for college is getting them ready for the type of discussions which typically take place in a college classroom (largely student-led), and particularly discussions which are based around a complex text assigned to be read outside of class.

This past year, as part of a DC History course I implemented a college-seminar like approach for my Seniors, hoping to prep them for these type of college classes.  Here is the breakdown of how these weeks went:

Monday- A lecture introducing the topic of the week.  Each week I also introduced a new note-taking technique for students to use, particularly as my lecture began to get longer (in order to condition them for college lecture style classes).  I would also introduce the Essential Question we would be exploring that week.  It is important that the question allows students to EVALUATE, reaching the highest level of Bloom's as well as allowing them to have a discussion later in the week.  For instance, during a week on gentrification the question could be:

"Is gentrification beneficial for communities?  Why or why not? What should be done about some of the negative impacts of gentrification?"


Tue/Wed-  To simulate the college atmosphere of only having class a few times a week but high expectations for the use of independent time.  On Tue/Wed students are required to read a source and then write a two-page response about their ideas about the question, using the source.  Tuesday would also involve the introduction of a reading strategy for that source.  Students must then spend the two 55-minute class periods working independently (with a grade assigned for that independent work).

Thurs-  Students participate in a Socratic Seminar (similar to the one described in a previous post).  The Seminar is in response to the Essential Question.

Reflection:

Although there are many details not covered in this post, the format was an effective one for my classroom in getting students ready for the college experience.  One thing to note is that you must set very clear expectations in the beginning about what "Independent Work" days should look like.  In the end, I found this to be a great way to increase rigor and engagement at the same time.