About this course: This course offers strategies that can lead to richer, more productive, whole-class discussions in their classrooms. Focusing on how to prepare for discussion, this course is for anyone who leads, wants to lead, or is interested in how teachers lead discussion. Across the 4 sessions in this course, we’ll learn more about what teachers and students need to do to prepare for rich discussions, including understanding: 1. What is (and isn't) discussion, and why discussion is important 2. How teachers set goals for discussion, and establish explicit norms that support these objectives 3. How teachers select texts and prepare text-based questions to guide the conversation 4. How teachers – based on these goals, norms, texts, and questions – then prepare students for the whole-class discussion The course consists of short videos interspersed with various thinking tasks—such as reflecting on videos of classroom discussions in action, and designing and receiving peer feedback on aspects of a Discussion Plan, a plan for a discussion you’ll lead in your own classroom.
Who is this class for: This course is primarily designed for current and prospective teachers who want to learn more about setting up productive whole-class discussions as well as those who are interested in how teachers lead conversations.
Taught by: Pam Grossman, Dean and George and Diane Weiss Professor of Education
Graduate School of Education
Taught by: Lisa M. Barker, Assistant Professor
Towson University
| Level | Beginner |
| Commitment | 3-4 weeks of study, 3-4 hours/week |
| Language | English |
| How To Pass | Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. |
- Video: Introduction to your course
- Reading: Your first task
- Video: Whole Class Discussion Video
- Practice Quiz: Whole Class Discussion Example Review
- Reading: Tell us about you!
- Video: Why discuss?
- Reading: Whole Class Discussion Non-Example
- Video: Debriefing the Non-example
- Reading: Classroom Discussion Example Preview
- Video: Classroom Discussion Example
- Practice Quiz: Classroom Discussion Example Review
- Video: Into, Through, and Beyond
- Video: Session 2 Goals
- Reading: What to consider when watching The House on Mango Street discussion
- Video: A class discussion about the House on Mango Street
- Practice Quiz: The House on Mango Street class discussion
- Video: Determining your discussion goals
- Reading: Beginning your Discussion Plan Template
- Video: Setting Norms for Discussion
- Reading: Instructions for the Classroom Norm-Setting Video
- Video: Classroom Norm-Setting
- Practice Quiz: Post Classroom Norm-Setting Video
- Video: Debriefing Lily's Norms
- Reading: Instructions for the Goal-Setting Norms Video
- Video: Goal-Specific Norm Setting
- Practice Quiz: Goal-Specific Norm Setting Video Review
- Video: Debriefing the Goal-Specific Norm Setting Video
- Discussion Prompt: Two Norms for Your Class
- Video: Preparing Texts
- Discussion Prompt: Your Prepared Text
- Video: Developing Questions
- Practice Quiz: Levels of Questioning
- Video: An Introduction to Preparing Students
- Reading: Preparing for the Classroom Video
- Video: Discussion Preparation Example
- Practice Quiz: Post-Example Questions
- Video: De-briefing the Classroom Example
- Video: Small Group Discussion as Preparation Example
- Video: De-briefing Yvonne's Discussion Preparations
- Reading: Preparing for the Example of Partner Talk as Preparation
- Video: Example of Partner Talk as Preparation
- Practice Quiz: Post-Example Questions
- Video: Debriefing the Partner Talk as Discussion Preparation Example
- Video: Closing Video
- Reading: Thank you! (Survey Link)
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