Week 3
How to be A Good Study Group Leader
Robin Williams as John Keating in Dead Poet's Society, 1989
"So, what does the good teacher do? Create tension—but just the right amount.” Donald Norman, researcher, professor, author
If we, as SGLs, are lucky in our attempt to create tension in our classes at BOLLI, the faces of our students take on a curious and involved expression. There is electricity in the air as the classroom comes alive. At least, that is what we all hope will happen. When we are natural and relaxed, confident in ourselves, that excitement occurs often enough to reward the class and ourselves for the hours we have spent preparing for these moments.
Although in this course, our preference is for discussion over lecture format, there are no recipes for success. Below is a list to go over from time to time, a reminder of the “role” we have signed up to play every time we engage with our class, or, these days, look brightly into the camera on our PC or Apple.
What does this person look like, the actor we summon up in ourselves? Below is a list of “favorite teacher traits.”
Caring, warmth, generosity of spirit
Encouragement, “faith in me,” inspiration
Willingness to take risks
“She said it was not her job to be consistent.”
Respect for students, particularly by not “dumbing down” the material
Possible to teach Shakespeare with immigrant students
Belief that “not everything has one answer”
Ability to make complex ideas or information simple without making errors as a result
Sharing of dynamism, enthusiasm, passion, engagement
Ability to challenge
Sensibility
Sense of humor
Knowledge
Ability to put the “story” into history.
Organizational skills.
Of course, we can aspire to have some of these skills! They are in us and we must hunt for them. We marvel at those who have already found them. Word gets around that so and so was an excellent teacher and that that they had acquired a “following,” students willing to take course after course. Teachers like Sophie Freud. Early in her career at BOLLI, Sophie wrote an essay about how different it was to teach at BOLLI, how important it was to understand the audience she would teach, how important it was to adapt. And adapt she did!
And what does that “adaptation” look like? Although the list is long, filled with suggestions reflecting the experiences of seasoned teachers, the present is a good time to familiarize yourselves with some of the building blocks that will help you succeed.
When Beginning a Class…
Provide a general “map” for the course in your first session and then at the start of each subsequent session
Make sure that course participants have an opportunity to introduce themselves at the first session, perhaps using a course-related prompt
Briefly summarize the previous week’s work and provide time to talk about “homework”
When Lecturing…
Show enthusiasm for the subject
Show solid understanding of the material
Present in a well-organized fashion
Make a personal connection with the topic
Make connections with similar or current issues
Welcome questions and/or comments
Make connections with questions or comments brought up by participants
Elaborate on and/or clarify a point that may have been confusing
When Using Technology…
Handle equipment with familiarity and relative ease.
Provide material that amplifies, extends, and/or demonstrates rather than merely repeats what was included in the week’s “homework.”
Do not include long passages of text on slides.
Do not read the slides.
Do not show videos or movies that take up too much of the period (unless, naturally, those films are the basis of the course as a whole and part of each week’s overall plan.)
Provide ample time for questions and discussion.
When Responding to Course Participants’ Comments…
Validate or support class members’ ideas.
Remain open to different points of view.
Support a course member’s idea while suggesting another point of view.
Suggest that the idea presented might be appropriate for class discussion.
Welcome participants’ suggestions for additional source material.
Support course members who do extra reading or research.
When Facilitating Class Discussion
Offer open-ended questions that prompt discussion.
Bring the group back to the point when digressing too far afield.
Validate diverse participant input.
Provide clarifying remarks when needed.
Connect participant comments to the text.
Work to “balance” participation
Support the “big talker’s” ideas with diplomacy without allowing him/her to dominate while encouraging quieter members to add their comments.
Make an appropriate transition and move on when a topic seems to have been adequately covered by the group.
When Ending a Class…
Briefly summarize (or ask participants to summarize) the main ideas covered during the period.
Make sure that the “homework assignment” for the next session is clear.
Provide opportunity for feedback by asking for final questions or comments (or by asking participants to jot down a question or comment on an “exit slip” to hand in as they leave.)
“Oh,” you might groan. “How will I ever learn to do these things? I have my habits, my ways of doing things year in and year out that I am used to. I could never make all these adaptations.”
Well, guess what? Many of us are not educators. On our own, or because someone encouraged us, we decided to learn how to teach. And one of the great things about BOLLI is that there will always be individuals in our classes who will help us out. As SGLs, we are their facilitators, guides on a journey. All we must do is connect with our students and then invite them to dig into questions we have provided for them to answer. Let the students do the work! If they know your heart is in the right place, they will do it! Believe me I know! And they will thank you for not trying to take charge of them but rather coaxing them to explore something unfamiliar.
I once had drawn a detailed diagram of a radio circuit in a class I taught on Radio of the 1930s and 40s. I asked the class if they would like me to go over the diagram. With much laughter, nearly everyone said, “no way.” Next, instead of going over the diagram in a technical fashion, I conveyed the essence of the circuitry, speaking very rapidly, humorously, in sixty seconds. The class loved it and so did I!
This leads me to a brief comment about how we need to adjust the content we feel we “must” cover both before and during class. Each class is the 85 minutes. There will be choices!
Deciding how much content to include in a course is often tricky.
SGLs often want to include many topics, examples, and readings to expose their students to all the intricacies of the course material.
However, including too much content can make a course overwhelming to both the students (who are expected to digest it) and SGLs (who must present it).
Focus on your course goals and on what is necessary to help students reach these learning outcomes.
There is no single “right” amount of content other than it facilitates the path toward your learning outcomes.
A manageable amount of course content will have a substantial impact on students’ motivation to succeed, learning gains and retention of information.
While my detailed diagram of a radio’s circuitry fascinated me, the class was more interested in the music, the comedy shows and the news of WWII. On the spot, I adapted. And then I sought feedback from my “liaison.” More about liaisons later in this course. For now, I will simply remind you that one of the fortunate ways BOLLI is organized is that there are supports for every aspect of our desire to teach a course and teach it well.
Let us say one of us has absorbed the information in Class 1 & 2. They have decided to teach a course entitled: “Are our National Forests Disappearing?” They have a vague concept, but they are not sure which path to take. For starters, they can seek out a member of the Curriculum Committee. This committee is always on the lookout for someone with an idea. If the committee member likes the idea, they might suggest the person sketch out an outline for their course.
Once you have your course outline:
Check it over carefully for continuity, level of dynamism, grammar.
Is it meaty—is there enough material to challenge the students intellectually and sustain their interest?
Is it flexible—if students make suggestions, do you have room to incorporate them?
Is it coherent—is there a recognizable connection between the lectures, readings, and assignments?
Do the major themes of the course stand out?
Is there a sense of intellectual movement— will students emerge with not only more information, but also new skills and capabilities?
Have the liaison look it over and react.
Further suggestions:
Essential to provide a list of thought-provoking study questions.
Frame each class in terms of questions that the class will answer.
“How has forest management responded to climate change?”
“What can be done to make the public aware of the need for improved forest management?”
Consider spending more time on one or two classes
Invite students to choose a supplemental topic or to allow for expansion of a point you are trying to make.
“Can you explain Einstein’s theory of relativity one more time? We find the time and space concept difficult.”
Okay, you have read these notes more than once and have taken the plunge. You are teaching but you feel unsettled. Will the class react to you as well as they did to Robin Williams in the movie, Dead Poet’s Society? One day, a day of your choosing, an observer will sit in on your class. They might take notes. (Cringe.) But you know this person because they have introduced themselves as a member of the SGSC (Study Group Support Committee…a mouthful, but it means “resource”.) And members of the SGSC want you to succeed. The SGSC observes you and then gives you feedback that might be brief or detailed, essentially borrowing from concepts such as these:
POSITIVE FEEDBACK FOR SGLs
Lecture or Discussion
You were enthusiastic about the need for understanding of our forests.
You have a substantial depth of understanding of material.
You were well organized.
You even have a personal connection to forestry because you were once a volunteer forest fire fighter.
You also connected with similar topics or current issues (if relevant.)
You welcomed questions during your factual presentations.
You were able to return to issues which a student had raised earlier.
You were able to elaborate on or clarify a point that was confusing.
Facilitating Class Discussion
You were a good listener.
You offered open-ended questions that prompted much discussion.
You managed digressions from topic.
You validated diverse student inputs
You turned a student’s idea around and asked the whole class to respond to it
You made clarifying remarks when appropriate.
You asked students how their comments were connected to the text.
You had an overall sense of how comfortable students were in responding.
You set limits, in a diplomatic fashion, with class members who tended to dominate the discussion.
You responded to times when a discussion lost momentum and needed to move on.
The atmosphere you created encouraged students who might not otherwise have spoken to share their thoughts.
Teacher’s response to a student’s comment
You validated or supported student’s ideas.
You welcomed different points of view from your own.
You supported student’s ideas while also suggesting other points of view.
You welcomed the student who offered material from a source outside the reading.
Other positives
The visitor observed of a lot of interaction among students.
The visitor saw that students approached you for further discussion.
Students continued to talk about topics before or after course.
Now that you have a sense of what it would be like if you were able to do all these things, simultaneously, while balancing a glass of water on your head, do not despair. If all does not go well one week, there is always the next week and the week after that. Every class does not have to be perfect!
One last comment. Imagine how much easier your life might be if you embraced a concept that placed the main burden of running a class on the students! (Studies have shown that student-driven class, where the student invests more of themselves, leads to greater learning.)
Follow the links to:
Some SGLs prefer the lecture method. And some students prefer to sit back and listen to that lecture. But what we propose is that those students who are passive in the classroom, content to have the SGL lecture, may have less mastery of the material. Why? Because they have not become as involved as they would have been in a discussion-centric course.
Whether or not you choose to teach using the Harkness method, you will need to be able to “listen,” one of the core skills in the Harkness method. Listening is a skill we all need. What happens if we pose a core question, one which we have been eager to ask, and there is no feedback? There is only silence. We listen and feel compelled to speak but do not. Still silence. You remind yourself that teachers and students alike need to tolerate voids when no one is responding immediately to a question or a re-phrasing of a core question. You remember Donald Norman telling you about that critical tension, just the right amount, that builds up. Then the silence ends, an electrifying moment. You think of yourself as a good teacher!