Meeting with Brook and Dina at our meeting this past Tuesday helped me clarify some ideas I'd been grappling with. We talked about how, in the transcript of the book club meeting, the students repeatedly got close to some big thematic ideas, and then moved on to a different idea as soon as they got stuck. I was trying to make sense of the distinction between discussion centered around basic facts and discussion that analyzes big ideas--Dina and Brook helped me realize that clarifying questions can often lead into bigger questions and ideas. The important thing is whether students stick with one idea long enough to push it "deeper and forward," as Brook said.
We also talked about how I might have too many indicators, and how they could be overwhelming, both to me and to the students who use them for self evaluations.
So I'm going to try narrowing down to just two indicators that reflect what I'm now thinking is most important in students' conversations:
1.
Students discussed one idea
deeply, and built on it by asking questions, responding, agreeing, disagreeing,
and adding on.
2.
Students developed theories
about the book together, and used evidence to support those theories.
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