Today, I began my unit on cyberbullying. Rather than continue the way I have taught it before, I decided to have students watch a video on a news report about cyberbullying, and read 1 of 2 articles. I chose two different articles in order to differentiate for reading levels.
Resources: (hyperlinked)
News Article Video
Article #1
Article #2
Questions posted around room for carousel
PPT w/Directions for Group Work
We first watched the news clip about two girls being charged with involvement in a bullying case that resulted in suicide. Before allowing discussion, I then gave students their articles and explained how I wanted them to annotate, leaving the directions on the board. I set a timer for 5 minutes. That was not enough time, so I added another 5. A few students (my stronger readers) were finished within the first 5 minutes, but I wanted to give enough time for everyone to annotate fully.
I will allot 10-15 minutes for the articles in the future in order to encourage students to stay focused and help with timed reading training for final exams. (4th block had the most difficulty staying quiet after completing their initial reading.)
Students had to remain silent after completing their annotations which was easy for most of them in 3rd block. 4th block however had some issues. Although, some will have to remember not to write or play with materials while listening to others speak. The most trouble I had came from the sophomores in room 123 because they don't know how to not act like idiots when no one is watching them.
In the future, I will add to the instructions for the members to direct the rest of the group to the passage before reading in order to help those who need to read the section for better comprehension. I will also direct group members to be thinking about what their response will be when it is time for their discussion during the rest of the minute from the original speaker.
3rd block: I had students get out their phones and set a timer for 1 minute. That person was then in charge of resetting the timer for each speaker.
4th block: I tried to have students keep a timer. They could not handle this, so I had to be the one to maintain the timer for other member responses.
For the original member to respond, I will set a class timer in order to keep better timing on the group as a whole. I kept the timer hidden so students would not stare down the clock. I noticed many students stopped speaking way before the timer ran out. I was surprised that my big talkers and those who dominate the conversations definitely did not utilize a lot of their time.
3rd block: When having to sit in silence for the rest of the minute during response time, students were really good about monitoring the other students for speaking when they weren't supposed to. Overall, students discussed the material in a mature manner without much intervention from me on maintaining a respectful mien.
4th block: Had issues following directions in allowing only 1 person to speak at a time and waiting in silence. I had to stop and explain twice what I meant by not talking unless you were the person assigned to speak.
Silence is hard.
4th block: I had to have students clear their desks because they wanted to play with papers, read books, move notebooks around, just do anything else besides sit still and think. After repeatedly explaining that they just had to sit and listen, I still had some students trying to mime to one another, play with scarves, and write notes. There were a few girls that had some serious attitude issues and could not handle the silence.
Generally, 4th block finished with at least 1/2 the time left for each discussion piece, whether it was 1 minute or 2 minutes. 3rd block generally used more time for their discussions.
I love that each student was able to get a chance to respond without anyone else interfering their moment. This also gave students time to consider their responses without pressure from more vocal and outspoken students.
There were a few students I noticed that did not pay particular attention when other people were speaking. Coincidentally, these are also my lowest students.
My 3rd block had some issues reestablishing their focus with lunch interrupting their discussions. It took some time getting back on track. Students were writing notes on paper to each other, among other things, and I had to redirect their attentions.
Consistently, students used only 1 of the 2 minute response times that they were allowed in order to respond to others' points and explain why they chose their particular passages.
Because I ran out of time 3rd period and could not do the Gallery Walk, I decided to take the comments down and assign numbers for each question. I am going to give each group a question and the corresponding post it notes and have the students organize and share their findings in class.
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After the silent group work, I asked for students' feedback. Some feelings were (and these come from my outspoken students, the ones who always raise their hands and want to speak):
Cons:
"It's too hard to remain focused when it's so quiet."
"It's easier to think when everyone is talking."
"I didn't have enough time to give my opinion."
"It's hard to wait and remember my ideas when someone else is speaking."
"I couldn't congratulate someone when they had a good idea."
"Couldn't respond immediately to another person's thoughts."
"Silent time felt awkward."
"Didn't get to have a class discussion. Made it boring not involving the whole class."
"If you did agree and have the same answer, not much to add."
"Repeated same answers in small group so ran out of things to say."
"Got fidgety during silence."
"Misunderstandings and couldn't fix it until it was your turn to speak again."
Pros:
"It gives everyone a chance to speak without being interrupted."
"Learned how to listen to others."
"Able to hear how other people felt on the subject."
"Learned what other people are thinking and compared to your thoughts. See different opinions/mind sets."
"Kept on task w/specified times."
"Able to share your thoughts w/out fear of judgment."
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Side note: My 4th block came in and said my 3rd block felt as if the discussion activity was so boring they wanted to sleep. Coincidentally, students are afraid of silence and having to speak their opinions. Additionally, I want to use a chart to diagram length of responses from students to record general response times and compare them to whole group discussions.
I will also assign a "talk monitor" to help dissuade others from speaking during silent moments.
I definitely got frustrated with the students during this activity.
Post-It notes do not stick to the walls.
I really love that you had them reflect on the experience, and I think that is the first step to modifying. It's kind of surprising that this is the sort of skill that needs to be explicitly TAUGHT, but it really does, and I think it is worth taking the time to reflect, maybe even more in-depth if possible. I think it shows how much they NEED the silence and the chance for introspection and explicit listening skills lessons, maybe even just individually next time, without groups, so they can practice listening to their thoughts instead of distracting themselves. Looking back at my seniors' experience, I might try a clear-the-desk, clear-the-mind session.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny that students were so "scared" of the silence in the room. It's hard as teachers to find a balance between what's too much noise and what's too little, especially in an English classroom, where discussion is encouraged. In a society where we are constantly surrounded by noise it was interesting to read about how your students felt uncomfortable with the silence, and they instantly relate silence with boredom. I think if this was something consistently done, students may become more comfortable with this type of learning experience.
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