tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post235821600098793663..comments2024-03-10T20:46:19.274-04:00Comments on In the Middle: Chaucer Classroom First-Day Flipping: A PlanCord J. Whitakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06224143153295429986noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-85563222380772925082013-08-31T10:22:39.842-04:002013-08-31T10:22:39.842-04:00Great post, Karl, and I like your overall impulse ...Great post, Karl, and I like your overall impulse toward simplification. <br /><br />In the past year or so, I have visited the same impulse upon my prompts. I now only allow a single sentence for each of my prompts. This forces me to be as concise as possible, and it impedes my need over-manage student writing. In return, I am receiving a much richer variety of essays. <br /><br /> <br /> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-24270481817168172072013-08-29T15:04:03.600-04:002013-08-29T15:04:03.600-04:00"Let me know if you'd like more details. ..."Let me know if you'd like more details. I can send along handouts, etc"<br />Kate, yes please!medievalkarlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12440542200843836794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-82443020302456379472013-08-29T02:57:31.986-04:002013-08-29T02:57:31.986-04:00I managed to muck up that description so wrote it ...I managed to muck up that description so wrote it up properly if any one is interested. They were devised by an expert in the field who taught and experimented on actors like lab rats for over 50 years and never published. <br /><br />http://historyfrog.wordpress.com/2013/08/29/the-craft-of-becoming-in-a-goldfish-bowl/<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Jebnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-22660139010153863972013-08-29T01:03:32.834-04:002013-08-29T01:03:32.834-04:00Kate I don't know if you could modify this or ...Kate I don't know if you could modify this or find it useful but it is a good way for all members of the group to learn something of the dynamic it is making and how to work within it in a high stress situation.<br /><br />Group in a circle, large set of keys, they get thrown at one member at random who moves to the middle then has to make up a fictive life around them answering questions delivered rapidly at speed as to what each key is for.<br /><br />In its full horror its design is to spot bodily ticks and habits that affect stage performance need to be identified and resolved. Here you have two members sitting in the middle of the circle very close to each other, they must maintain full eye contact at all times as the one with the keys answers the questions attempting maintain a non-contradictory narrative around the keys. <br /><br />Clearly no need to take it to the full extreme but it is the ultimate goldfish exercise and its basic features can be used in a range of ways. <br /><br />The intensity is something you don't forget you also learn a lot about each other. Jebnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-29652380465887458682013-08-28T14:05:10.182-04:002013-08-28T14:05:10.182-04:00Karl, Have you ever used a "Fish Bowl" ...Karl, Have you ever used a "Fish Bowl" discussion technique? The title is a little misleading, but I use it a lot to (try to) remove myself from conversation. Students all come in with 3-4 prepared questions about the text/readings for the day. I choose, at random, 4 people to serve as "experts" (or to be in the fish bowl, as it were). They sit at the front of the class and other students ask their prepared questions--the experts must be the first to respond. I intervene when questions seem to not go anywhere (in order to try to redirect), or when there is a disagreement about how to answer a particular question. If you use it enough, the class becomes far more comfortable with each other and far less reliant upon me for "the answers." Let me know if you'd like more details. I can send along handouts, etc.Katehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17929304668186868936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-81763979692818699632013-08-27T21:38:57.176-04:002013-08-27T21:38:57.176-04:00Great questions, Karl. My little first day Chaucer...Great questions, Karl. My little first day Chaucer "experiment" today was to bring in 10 different editions of Chaucer, pair my course of 20, and ask them to analyze the design, structure, layout, and apparatus of their 10 editions, and then tell the rest of the class who the intended audience was, what they liked and didn't like, what was useable. Went very well.Ashby Kinchnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-75169272890337796932013-08-27T21:37:30.797-04:002013-08-27T21:37:30.797-04:00Odd's one word for it. Criminal's another....Odd's one word for it. Criminal's another. Would that America believed that higher education was a public good and deserved to be funded accordingly.medievalkarlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12440542200843836794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-38849996949416627342013-08-27T20:44:00.600-04:002013-08-27T20:44:00.600-04:00"This means getting rid of lecture as much as..."This means getting rid of lecture as much as possible"<br /><br />It is an odd way to learn. I contrast it with the way drama is taught. Yearly intake at my old school was 12 students in each year. You have more than double in one class.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-77338877373931599822013-08-27T18:31:08.086-04:002013-08-27T18:31:08.086-04:00Jeb -- thanks for that. I hear a lot of anger over...Jeb -- thanks for that. I hear a lot of anger over kids and their phones. But the thing is: they're young. They're easily distracted. So the trick is to meet them where they are, or to keep them so busy they don't have time to text. This means getting rid of lecture as much as possible. I'm hoping that if my classes were ever videotaped that the camera wouldn't know what to look at.<br /><br />So the q for you MKH is how large are your classes. Mine are all about 25, and I have 3 of them this semester. The trick here is to avoid, as much as possible, having them talk to me and to keep them talking to each other. This may be more a do as I say rather than as I do, and it's certainly a reminder to myself as I get ready to teach tomorrow. We shall see! And congrats on your first teaching day on your new job!medievalkarlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12440542200843836794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-73628571458719789932013-08-27T17:51:20.676-04:002013-08-27T17:51:20.676-04:00p.s the kids left with a real sense they were goin...p.s the kids left with a real sense they were going to become apart of something exciting,work like dogs but have loads of fun as clubs and social events are also a key part.Jebnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-54240314954207123072013-08-27T17:47:56.234-04:002013-08-27T17:47:56.234-04:00I really like this -- I did something similar in m...I really like this -- I did something similar in my first classes yesterday. In the Arthurian class, I asked them to tell me the story of Arthur in their own words. In the History of the English language course, it was a bit more complex: what is English (language, literature, culture)? What is the difference between English and British? Always fun to see where they're coming from and what background them have. Mary Kate Hurleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14892991966276345782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-64481786899861541412013-08-27T17:28:05.826-04:002013-08-27T17:28:05.826-04:00My partner went along to introductory lecture day ...My partner went along to introductory lecture day for my daughters introduction to university. She noticed kids started reaching for mobile phones at the same point in the day when all the adults in the room started to lose the will to live as well. <br /><br />Ironically during the lecture of a seriously good academic who is very academic and over fond of going into highly detailed explanations of Latin legal terms. <br /><br />Department does two things of interest videos all lectures (essential for standard educational disabilities, in most other departments you have to ask) and uses a buddy system where all first year students have a fourth year mentor. <br /><br />The mentoring in particular works seriously well and students in final years along with staff were a key part of the event which is always a healthy sign. Jebnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-85213837152233128492013-08-27T14:41:41.479-04:002013-08-27T14:41:41.479-04:00Will do. Just hoping their technology works for so...Will do. Just hoping their technology works for something other than texting.<br /><br />Basically, this is all the stuff I think they have to know, but which bores me to tears to talk about. So: my trick.medievalkarlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12440542200843836794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-25378756488839052512013-08-27T14:23:29.368-04:002013-08-27T14:23:29.368-04:00I love this: active engagement right from the star...I love this: active engagement right from the start. Will you report on how it goes? I'd love to hear some student answers to the more open ended questions.Jeffrey Cohenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17346504393740520542noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-23191733485439991342013-08-27T13:38:26.501-04:002013-08-27T13:38:26.501-04:00Oh, that's good. I'll try that too for the...Oh, that's good. I'll try that too for the second meeting.medievalkarlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12440542200843836794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-15554042702460977092013-08-27T13:17:06.998-04:002013-08-27T13:17:06.998-04:00I am also considering having them come in after th...I am also considering having them come in after the first class with "how to read" reports from the web. So, go to The Google and report back on how we are supposed to read the prologue . . . and then, as a class, we work on problematizing those readings. It could produce a free-for-all, but I'm thinking it might also get them to "out" their high-school readings and push past them.Katenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-45791774785239504972013-08-27T12:49:51.498-04:002013-08-27T12:49:51.498-04:00" but I remember one piece of good advice: &q..." but I remember one piece of good advice: "teach something." I still heed that. "<br />YES. That's it. <br /><br />I love the simple weighty lines. Adam Kotsko said he tries to teach his writing students 2 things: "have a point" and "make sense." That covers EVERYTHING: having an argument, grammar, structure. Guess what I put on my English Comp syllabus?<br /><br />Hmm: Thinking maybe I can shorten the syllabus further if I put the Blackboard sign-up info on the first assignment sheet. The class plan is always going to be 2 pages though, and there's no way to get ALL the other basic info (books, short list of assignments, attendance policy) on just one page. Hmmmm.<br /><br />PENN - I wonder if you could have them map it themselves? Pose some questions like "roughly where did the Picts live in relation to Bede?" "Map a route from London to Iona." "How many miles between Jarrow and Durham?" They should be able to figure that out with just their phones.<br /><br />Kate -- very cool. Let me know if it works. I'll certainly report back here.medievalkarlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12440542200843836794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-43932239214418991742013-08-27T12:33:03.280-04:002013-08-27T12:33:03.280-04:00I'm using Canvas, and I'm including little...I'm using Canvas, and I'm including little introductions to the pdfs (such as, here are salient facts about Bede's life and the world in which he lived, and how it relates to the text) instead of doing the usual 2 min mini lecture in class. And I am linking to a google map I am building that shows sites where our authors were born, educated, etc. so now I can do more with discussion, and they have better context BEFORE they read things. (Not as ambitious as Karl's idea, for sure, but based on one day, it seems to getting them into things a little easier.)Medievalists @ Pennhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13003127870992795467noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-34539274153830363532013-08-27T12:18:34.963-04:002013-08-27T12:18:34.963-04:00Brilliant. Thank you! I"m stealing this.Brilliant. Thank you! I"m stealing this.Katenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-6939374850936662742013-08-27T12:09:44.199-04:002013-08-27T12:09:44.199-04:00Years ago, in grad school, I went to some workshop...Years ago, in grad school, I went to some workshop or other given by the Teaching Center at UVA, and they talked about what to do on the first day (or maybe it was something I read?). I may not remember where I heard (or read it), but I remember one piece of good advice: "teach something." I still heed that. <br /><br />Though, yes, we also do the syllabus slog. Mine is four pages this semester, too. Frankly I'd love to get it even shorter than that. Amanda Frenchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08279522992900557181noreply@blogger.com