Building Conversations
an approach for structured, intentional discussion
In this series of articles I’m sharing approaches, activities, and reflections from the Habla Teacher Institute in Mérida, Mexico. Previous posts include One Word Beginnings and Story Nuggets.
For every text we read at the Teacher Institute, we first engaged in what we call an “entering text” activity. With Story Nuggets we gave participants a small portion of text to immediately bring to life through performance. Later in the institute we also used sound and movement to enter text (Stay tuned for these practices that were piloted by improvisational musician Darío Bernal Villegas and dance educator Liz Lerman). It’s important to note that these approaches are ways of introducing the text, and that they should be followed by deep reading experiences, like Marking Up Text and Tip of the Iceberg. This week’s post describes an approach to discussing text that we call Building Conversations.
How Building Conversations Evolved
Early on in my teaching career I learned about “protocols” with various purposes— offering supportive feedback on student work, brainstorming ideas around a student-project, or structuring “talk” in the classroom. Many of these protocols were developed by educators working at organizations like the Coalition of Essential Schools, the Annenberg Institute for School Reform, Harvard's Project Zero, and the National School Reform Faculty. When I was in graduate school I would often sneak into sessions and conferences led by these organizations (all based in the Boston/Providence area) and absorb as many of these practices as I could.
My first job after graduate school was at Souhegan High School in Amherst, NH. The faculty and administrators at the school were exceptional, and the PD sessions were faculty-led. They used protocols to structure almost every PD experience for the faculty.
Although I have a great appreciation for protocols, I often feel like there is too much structure. As I've adapted them for my own PD sessions and classrooms, I find that I'm always simplifying them—taking steps out—making them as clean and streamlined as possible.
One of my favorite protocols has roots in The Microlab Protocol I learned from my colleague Tina Blythe from Project Zero at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. I’ve used the original Microlab Protocol to develop the following structure, Building Conversations.
