Today's class, which began with our small group technology tutorials, focused on "Separating Fact from Fiction: Examining the Credibility of Information on the Internet," before moving on to a game called 20 questions. We started off strong before slowing down to a screeching halt. After only 6 questions (was the character a male?, to which he answered yes; was he under 30?, to which he answered no; was he alive?, to which he answered no (which later proved to be a lie); did he die during the 20th c.?, to which he answered no; did our mystery character make local/national/international/news (as being alive)?, to which he answered yes; was he a fictional character?, to which he answered yes.
After only 6 questions (and much discussion), we seemed to have veered off course. So far that we actually stopped playing the game, which came to an abrupt end when we were informed that our mystery man was Stephen Colbert.
While the "rules of the game" were ill-defined (and hastily stated, accompanied by several amendments), it was nevertheless a good learning experience; it allowed me to see that, as an educator, there are times that I should step back and allow more time for reflection; allow more time for the students to strategize (when playing a game); and provide a clear (preferably typed-written) set of instructions. This "game" showed me (from a student's perspective) that teachers need to allow more time for metacognition; more time for students to work together, to collaborate. This would, I believe, create a more student-centered classroom. I just wish we had more time "to play."
I really liked how we used the game of 20 questions in class in order to discuss being skeptical of information we found on the internet and taking different approaches to asking questions, but your post talks about other things you learned. I agree that collaboration and the time we veered off topic from questioning to discussing our strategy as a class were great moments for learning! Great tie in to other concepts we've been talking about this summer: metacognition, collaboration, and a student-centered classroom.
ReplyDeleteCory, I liked your presentation of the game and how you could apply what you have learned from the game to your practice. As Mr. S said in class, we have to provide students the opportunity to see our thinking, especially because students will already have assumptions and their own perceptions about how and what we might be thinking. I think on the flip side, this game could provide the teacher with an opportunity to gain insight on how the students think as well. By analyzing what kind of questions they're asking, there might be a way to deduce what kind of thinking processes they're using when they develop those questions. As Mr. S repeatedly did during the game, he would ask for our reasoning and opinions behind the questions that were asked. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
ReplyDeleteCory, I appreciate your wish that we'd have had more time to actually play the game in class...I did, too. Having said that, I knew from the start that we wouldn't have been able to play the game from beginning to end without intervention from me. For what it's worth, know that playing the game to a natural conclusion wasn't the point of the activity for me, and tossing in a rule or two once we'd already started was done for dramatic effect, with my knowing that even if you guys got a little frustrated with me on that score, that the game could still go on (I might well have approached things differently if the players were HS students). I hoped that the game would provide you with a "hands-on" experience that would foreground some pedagogical issues of the kind that you mentioned in your posting, like the importance of making a space for group reflection. I also hoped that, between my debriefing and the meaning that you drew from the activity upon your own reflection, that the activity might foreground philosophical and pedagogical questions (How do we KNOW something? What does it mean to socially-construct knowledge?) that connect to more practical questions related, for example, to having kids do web research, or to thinking about how we construct questions.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the thoughtful feedback, Cory.