Take Five Week 5-2
Another change I am making to my classroom is by teaching Hamlet. I am really scared! Hamlet is so difficult to understand and I know many students struggle with understanding Shakespeare (this is part of the reason I want them to teach it to each other). But, I am wondering if they will really get out of it all that is necessary (I know this comes back to the idea of why must I determine what is necessary)? Besides them fishbowling Hamlet, they are also going to be creating postings on the class blog for the outer circle to comment upon rather than writing a journaled reaction which no one else but me gets to read. That part I am quite excited about to see the depth of the question and that they will be able to recieve direct comments from their peers. I am thinking of adding a posting myself where they can comment on the fishbowl discussion itself to give the leaders and myself feedback to better the process. It is going to be an interesting rest of the semester I am sure!
posted by annes @ 7:55 PM
2 Comments:
I think this is a great idea. I think the more we can get them to think about writing for a wider audience, not just for the teacher, the more thought and effort they'll put into it. It also shows that you truly value their thinking and that you trust them to share it appropriately.
This is a great idea of allowing and encouraging students to draw their own conclusions instead of conforming to the teacher's ideas. As long as they can back up their ideas, it should work well for you. If there are certain things that you want them to get out of Hamlet, I'm sure they will still be receptive to them after they have gone through everything else. I'll be curious to hear the results.
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