| Its been a pretty good week! Ive had a ton to do but Im fishing my way through it pretty good! Ive had a school observation, a GSU observation, a state observation, and a board observation and all have went well! I think im gonna become a professional obersvee. It was great to see everyone at campus again this saturday, I hope you all made it home OK. This acting thing was pretty fun as well as funny, I just cant get enough of this Johnny guy! But ya know, I didnt really know what a panel discussion could be used for in general but it would appear to work well in a classroom setting from time to time. The only issue I see is coming up with the student experts. This might make for a good long term assignment to help fill in time when needed. I figure I could start each student on a separate mini section and have them study it to the max, then possibly do some panel projects middle and end of term. Either way, Im glad I got to see one in action and I hope all of you guys had a great time! |
This site is a class blog space for new Career and Technical Specializations and Heathcare Science teachers enrolled in the New Teacher Institute (NTI) at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia.
Shane, you have outlined a great plan for using the panel discussion method in your class. It might indeed be used as part of a long-term assignment. You could begin with a brainstorming activity to get students to break down a broad topic into smaller sub-topics. Then, using the jigsaw/cooperative learning method, you could divide your students into small groups and either assign them one of the sub-topics or allow them to choose one of the sub-topics from the brainstorming session. Once in their small [focus] groups, students could research their sub-topics in order to prepare one member of their team to serve as a "expert" panelist for the panel discussion. Each team could also prepare questions to ask during the panel discussion related to their sub-topic. Finally, you could hold the panel discussion.
ReplyDeletePlease let me know if you try this method in your class. You could post on the blog. I want to hear about it. I've used this with my own students, and it's always been highly successful. Students like feeling like they are the experts and in charge of something. I've had a few Johnny's over the years who made the experience VERY entertaining.
I think Sat. class was one of the best ones yet. I really enjoyed the humor we have in our group. You might try to select the panel based on top performers in your class.
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