I wasn't able to upload the videos, but below are the transcriptions. Each video is centered around one of the prioritized questions we used to jumpstart discussion during Socratic Seminar. My cooked notes are in ALL CAPS. I also put in parentheses next to each person's name whether I thought they were low or high readers. This is a rough, vague sketch of course, but I think it helps illustrate how the lower readers dominated the discussion.
Video 1
Deavion (low): I wonder why byron and buphead don't pay attention in class. My answer is that they might think it's boring
Kayla (low): I agree with you because sometimes people in this classroom sometimes they may be juvenile delinquents because they don't be paying attention to what the teacher says and they have to flip their cards SHE'S CONTEXTUALIZING THE BOOK WITHIN HER LIFE (THE CLASSROOM)
Amaya (high): probably all they want to do is bad things and pick on people
Donte (low): i think they don't pay attention because since they went to juvenile they think they bad and stuff MISCONCEPTION ABOUT TERM: CONFLATING PLACE WITH PERSON
Jaymon (low): i think they think cool and juvenile delinquents but they really aren't inside WHAT DOES HE MEAN BY NOT COOL INSIDE? IS HE SAYING THEY'RE INSECURE?
Kayla: people be doing that because they think they cool and everything but they really not WHAT AN IDENTITY REVEALING THING FOR A GIRL LIKE KAYLA WHO HASN'T ALWAYS BEEN A GOOD GIRL TO SAY
Rashad (high) asks Deavion to explain more about his answer RASHAD IS LOOKING TO PUSH THE DISCUSSION DEEPER
Deavion: maybe they just go to school to talk to their friends
Kayla agrees again: because sometimes people do be thinking it's cool to talk to their friends but it's really not, it's cool to learn
me: why don't we start a new question?
Video 2
Jaymon: why Byron being nice to Kenny but at first in the story he wasn't? I think because when Kenny had came into the classroom and read to the whole 5th grade and he was only in 4th that made Byron proud because that made everyone think the same way about Byron. INTERESTING IDEA THAT HE'S INFERRING THAT BYRON WANTS PEOPLE TO THINK HE'S SMART (SHOULD I HAVE JUMPED IN HERE AND ASKED HIM TO EXPLAIN?)
Kayla: I agree with you because he was proud of Kenny
Rashad: I agree with you because in the story because when they were about to beat Kenny up Byron stopped them and let them walk with them. AGAIN RASHAD DEEPENS THE DISCUSSION BY GOING INTO THE TEXT FOR EVIDENCE
Me: Let's try to get new voices and call on people we haven't called on before I'M GROWING CONCERNED THAT THE SAME 5 PEOPLE (WHO BESIDES RASHAD TEND TO BELONG TO THE LOW GUIDED READING GROUPS)
Alex (high): I agree with Jaymon's first part of his answer but not the second because i think byron was having trouble with things and when kenny read that really helped him. but Jaymon what was the other part of your answer?
Jaymon: He came in the whole 5th grade room and read to them.
Alex: I disagree with you about him being nice to them because he was still being kind of mean to him because in the story it said that he said when it was about LJ and he had asked about the question he was still being mean to them. TRYING TO COMPLICATE THE DISCUSSION BY POINTING OUT THAT DISCUSSING BYRON SHOULD NOT BE DONE IN ABSOLUTES
Riana (high): I disagree with you because that's not really a part about Byron is being mean for his question VERY CONCRETE BUT CORRECT COMMENT ABOUT LIMITING THE DISCUSSION AROUND THE RELEVANT PART OF THE TEXT
Alex: No but he (Jaymon) said Byron wasn't being mean to him anymore but he sometimes byron could be mean
Jaymon: but im saying that was in the past though because remember...what's that called?
Donte: flashback
Jaymon: yea flashback that was a flashback because remember when he said that it was good to have a new friend not like LJ because LJ was stealing all his dinosaurs, that was in the past
Alex: Oh yeah, my bad.
Kayla: I disagree with you Alex because like some type of thing like you said (pointing to Jaymon) it was in the past and he talking about why was he being nice to Kenny but at first he was being mean to him.
Me: Ok good, let's get a new topic
Video #3
Olajuwon (high): How did Byron become a juvenile delinquent? My answer is he probably had did something bad. I THINK THAT OLAJUWON HAD TROUBLE READING HIS WHOLE ANSWER BECAUSE HE WAS MISSING A FEW WORDS, WHICH IS WHY IT SOUNDS FRAGMENTED
Donte: I agree with you, I think he did something to the police. INFERENCE WITHOUT TEXT EVIDENCE
Davontae (high): I disagree with you (Donte) because in the story it said you become a juvenile delinquent when you turn 13. CORRECT TEXT EVIDENCE
Riana: I disagree with you (Davontae) because they because they never said that Byron just turned 13 NOT TRUE and I disagree with Donte because they never said anything about Byron and the police. TRUE
Youngan (high): I think that he trying to just be a showoff or something. I think he has some friends that are juvenile delinquents.I think he's trying to show off. GOOD INFERENCE, I WONDER WHAT CLUES TOLD HIM THIS?
Josh (high): I think he's trying to be like Buphead because if he was getting in trouble and getting suspensions and stuff maybe Byron would try to stay home from school. I DON'T UNDERSTAND THE LAST PART OF THIS COMMENT
Jaymon: I agree with Olajuwon and Josh, and I disagree with Donte. The reason I agree with Josh because I think he start being a juvenile delinquent when he had met Buphead because Buphead was a bad influence on him. GOOD INFERENCE, AGAIN I WISH I KNEW WHAT CLUES LEAD HIM TO THIS CONCLUSION?
Alex: I had wanted you to tell more (Olajuwon) about doing something bad. GREAT QUESTION TO TRY AND PUSH THE DISCUSSION FURTHER
Olajuwon: come back to me I WONDER WHY HE HAD TROUBLE ARTICULATING THIS? HIGHER KIDS SEEM TO HAVE MORE DIFFICULTY SPECULATING/PARTICIPATING AT ALL IN THIS FORUM. PERHAPS THERE'S A BETTER END RESULT FOR QUESTIONING THAT WOULD ALLOW THEM TO EXPRESS THEMSELVES BETTER?
Briyonna (low): I agree with Jaymon and I kinda disagree because in the story it said Byron was always trying to pick on Kenny with Buphead so I think that Buphead is the one who always be getting Byron to pick on Buphead. MIXED UP THE CHARACTER NAME AT THE END, SHE MEANT TO SAY KENNY INSTEAD OF BUPHEAD
Khalil (high) (laughs)
Me: What's so funny Khalil?
Khalil: She said Byron is trying to pick on Buphead. CLEARLY ENGAGED, FACT CHECKING. THE HIGHER KIDS SEEM TO FACT CHECKING A LOT. IS IT BECAUSE I'VE CALLED ON LOWER KIDS TO START EACH DISCUSSION, SO IN THAT WAY I'VE PREDETERMINED THE HIGH AND LOW KIDS' ROLES IN THE DISCUSSION? IS THERE A HIGHER PROPORTION OF LOWER KIDS INVOLVED BECAUSE I'M CALLING ON THEM TO START THE DISCUSSION AND THEN THEY'RE CALLING ON THEIR FRIENDS WHO TEND TO BE LOWER TOO? ON THE OTHER HAND, OLAJUWON'S NOT LOW AND HE STARTED THIS DISCUSSION...
Video 4
Antwanay (low): Is Byron going to teach Kenny how to be a juvenile delinquent? I think yes because Byron is supposed to be the role model but he is teaching Kenny to be bad like him so he can...WHAT DID SHE WANT TO SAY AT THE END? WHY DID SHE STOP? ALSO IT'S INTERESTING BECAUSE TODAY DONTE RAISED HIS HAND AFTER READING THE NEXT PART OF CHAPTER 3 AND SAID THAT HE THOUGHT KENNY WAS LIKE A ROLE MODEL TO RUFUS UNTIL HE MADE FUN OF HIM...SO DONTE IS TRANSFERRING CONTENT AND KNOWLEDGE FROM SOCRATIC SEMINAR AND APPLYING IT INTO HIS UNDERSTANDING OF FUTURE READING. SYNTHESIS!
Khalil: I disagree with you because in the story it didn't say nothing about Byron teaching Kenny to be a delinquent. FACT CHECKING AGAIN
Terran (high): I agree with you Khalil and I disagree with you Antwanay because in the story you didn't see BYron hanging out with Kenny for a while. TRUE, GOOD TEXT EVIDENCE
Kayla: I disagree with you and Khalil, I agree with Antwanay. I agree with Antwanay because he was trying to be a bad influence for Kenny because he's the older brother he's supposed to be the right way to be a person but he's showing him the bad way. and I disagree with you because what did you say? you said something? but he was trying to be bad, and trying teach Kenny how to be bad. SHE IS CLEARLY TAKING THIS BOOK PERSONALLY, FORMING STRONG OPINIONS!! SHE CONNECTS TO THIS BOOK IN SOME INTERESTING WAYS THAT I'D LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT
Class laughs at her assertiveness while speaking THIS ASSERTIVENESS IS NEW. THEY DEFINITELY SEE IT FROM HER AT LUNCH AND OUTSIDE OF CLASS, BUT NEVER IN CLASS
Jaymon: I had put the same thing (same question) My answer was Kenny was always following Byron and Buphead like when he had to go to school, when he would walk him to the bus and Byron didn't get on the bus, sometimes Kenny would go by himself. (Stops because he's distracted by all the people disagreeing)
Me: It's ok to put your thumb down, why don't you call on someone who disagrees.
Alex: I disagree because everytime when skips school he says that he always catches the bus and everytime Kenny walks down the street he walks home with him so he won't get in trouble.
Olajuwon: I disagree with you (Alex) because the time when we was talking about how he had missed school it never said he had catched back up with Kenny, we had predicted that. DISTINGUISHED TEXT EVIDENCE FROM OUR INFERENCES
Rashad: I agree with you and disagree with Alex because I think when Byron skipped school if he goes home by himself his mama is going to get mad at him because...(inaudible)
My reflections:
-Why didn't high kids participate more? Why did Zeke look so bored? I asked him about it afterwards and he said it was because he wasn't sure if his answers were right, if there was enough evidence. It fits with the narrative about high kids who are so used to being right, they aren't as inclined to take risks or make themselves vulnerable in a forum like seminar. This is a valuable thing I'd like him to learn, but how to facilitate this? Logically, since he had the chance to write out answers to his questions ahead of time, he had some scaffolding. I still think part of it is just that he was unmotivated, but why? Nothing to gain from the discussion? Not connecting to the book? Not the right questions? But he had the opportunity to create his own when we generated them earlier in the week! ARGH! How do I get the higher kids more involved? I think there's a definite dynamic between high and low kids. When I asked the class to reflect on the seminar, Amaya (high) expressed frustration because she believed some people just disagreed to disagree, without giving good text evidence. The higher kids seem to be more into synthesizing their thoughts with text, while lower kids seem more willing to put their thoughts out there. Would higher kids get more out of seminar if we split seminar into 2 groups, one high and one low? i think some of the higher kids wanted to be more involved but they just weren't getting called on. i need to step in more and call on them if i feel like they're getting ignored.
-Why did lower kids thrive in this discussion? What do they gain from this? Identity formation as thinkers, smart kids. Voice. Better comprehension. Better articulation (with practice- Kayla and Jaymon both struggle to read and speak fluently, even in this discussion, but they are practicing more and improving)
-How did questioning improve the quality of this Socratic Seminar? It definitely did, we saw a lot more inferring, a better focused discussion that was able to go deeper. I should probably have students complete a quick survey after cycle 2's socratic seminar, asking them what role questioning had in improving the discussion. does generating and prioritizing questions help them think about the text? discuss it? i wonder which kids would say yes and which would say no? I wonder what they'd be able to articulate about the role of questioning in facilitating deeper thought and discussion?
-Where do we go from here? Cycle 2 should see us get even better at questioning, will that result in an even better Socratic Seminar?
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