Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Quick Update

I have been busy with all sorts of meetings and commitments, so the blog has been on the back burner.

I promised a quick update, so this will be quick.

The book clubs are going well. One of the observations that is striking me much more this go-around than it has in previous cycles is the importance of the social dynamics of a group in the quality of their discussions.

For instance, I overheard one young man relay to his friends outside my classroom, "I'm stuck in this group with all of these ditzy girls." Another young man who is usually a challenge to reign in during class discussions has sat silently during the majority of his book club talks and will entertain himself by using hand sanitizer or stroking the spider plant on my desk. These young men (the only male in their respective groups) clearly don't feel comfortable with their peers. Conversely, I am watching groups that gel well become engaged in lively conversations and tackle the tough topics raised in their novel simply because conversation seems to flow more easily in their groups.

All of this leads me to wonder if the formation of the groups (at least at this developmental level) needs to be more carefully crafted. I wonder if personality surveys or learning style surveys could help. Maybe even my simple idea to ask the students to select options of both books and classmates could lead to more successful book clubs. I'll have to keep mulling this issue over.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great insight. This looks like one of those ancillary ideas that I've encountered myself. Kind of the hmmm, this isn't what I'm looking at but I can't drop it! For me the realization that these issues pop up is the heart of the research process. I've often wondered how an educator can spend their whole career researching the same idea. But now I see that it might seem like the same idea on the surface, but once you dig beneath the outward facade there is a rich underbelly that just begs to be itched (that's my doggie metaphor for the day). Isn't this the same kind of dynamic that Cindy is struggling with right now? Having a strong initial idea, but unearthing a more compelling secondary idea that HAS to be addressed like the belly itch.

I know I would be interested in the group dynamic issue. Seems like a topic many teachers struggle with and some insight and research on your part would be invaluable. I can't wait to see where this little itch leads you next.

Cindy O-A said...

Maybe we should think more about this next semester, Rebecca, even though as you worried earlier, it could turn into a logistical nightmare. Maybe not, though, if kids listed top 3 peers and top 3 book choices?

Since I'm commenting on this about a week after you wrote it, I thought it was interesting today as I walked around that most groups seemed to have come a long way baby in terms of social dynamics. I know that a few weeks ago when Beth and I were beating ourselves because some of the norming activities seemed like a bust, she put it all into perspective when she checked off the list of social challenges each individual kid was bringing to the group. The particular book club I'm thinking of now is actually pretty chummy, so maybe it just all takes time. God knows that kids are seldom on the same schedule as adults are (which maybe isn't always such a bad thing...).

p.s. Natalie's comment has made my decade-long book club obsession seem intellectually responsible rather than odd :). Thanks, Natalie!