Ongoing Conversations AKA Move'N Grove!!

I feel that every time I listen to Cult of Pedagogy, I change something in my teaching.  That sounds exhausting, doesn’t it?  But it truly isn’t, it’s all good stuff.  More often than not we’re talking a little tweak that makes all the difference - something that just brightens up what I’m already doing!  So many times I’ll be listening to the podcast and do a proverbial 🤦‍♀️ as I think, why am I not already doing that?  My kids are used to me letting them know we’re trying something new.  You could even say that part of Room 1113’s culture is to be ready for change.  It’s kind of what we do - our own type of consistenc, if you will 😂😂. Seriously though, I will say, “I heard about this thing and we’re going to try it,” and, bless their hearts, they are always excited to do so!  I get feedback, we adjust and shift, and typically it becomes our own.  After all, if it has been practiced enough to be shared by Jennifer, it’s been proven in another classroom - there hasn’t been one that didn’t work yet!

So, Ongoing Conversations.  Check out the podcast at https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/ongoing-conversations/ for the original idea.  Really, a super simple concept - just making sure that the kids start checking in with other people than the normal circle, and giving them the opportunity it to dig a little deeper, whether with a novel or ... well, anything really!  Just like the TQE, the power is in the simplicity and flexibility.  I do have to admit that I disobeyed the first piece of advice given.  Jeff Frieden, the creator, said not to dive right in.  Well, I did 🤷‍♀️ But it worked, despite my appalling explanation (by the third period it was smooth 🙄😜).  Oh, and I also called it Move’N Groove, because I like that.  Fits our class.  

So, how did it work? 

Well, I was out at a training on Friday, and the kids had been tasked with completing what was basically a worksheet (I know, I know, we don’t do them - but it’s the easiest for a Guest Teacher, and I had issues with Chromebook management the last time I was out, so I went for easy 😕). They had to read the textbook (again, I know, I know, but that’s another blog for another time) launch text and respond to questions.  Here it gets more positive, not comprehension questions (😴😴), they did have to dig a little deeper than that!  Having just focused on informative essays and moving into argument, their hunting was for text structure, author strategies, etc. Plus, it was pep rally day, so classes were only around 30 minutes anyway, so it was just enough to keep them busy, simple for the Guest Teacher and accomplished the goal of introducing our unit theme and topic.  But as always, some didn’t finish.  Others made stuff up.  The odd one or two had markedly blank papers.  And of course, I knew all that before setting foot in the classroom Monday morning.

So, I had already planned to go back over things and had been mulling over ways to avoid it being a snooze fest.....and there it was: Ongoing Conversations.  

I heard the podcast as I drove to the barn to see my horse.  I thought about it and ran ideas through my brain as I did chores and hung out in my happy place. And Move’N Groove became a new ‘thing’ in Room 1113 to add to Walk’N Talk and the TQE Method!

I typed up the class-lists, with two checkboxes next to each name.  Side note, I purposefully created the ‘checkboxes’ as more of a table, leaving the door open for future notes/write-in/feedback for when I employ a deeper use of the strategy.  This confused the kids immensely 🙄. There was room to write in there, so they wanted to know just what they should write - they were a step ahead of me, for day 1, I was just asking for a check mark 😝.  Next time I will really jump in there and ask for notes and feedback!  I guess that was my way of actually listening to Jeff and not diving in - but my kids, and their openness to new things, were ready for more!

Anyway, it was quite simple.  They got their sheets from Friday back.  They got their textbooks, they got their Move’N Groove sheet.  The timer was set and off they went.  The task was to review each question with someone different, checking off who they met with as they go.  With my larger classes, I said they could meet with the same person twice (just logistically the getting around furniture and finding an available body in the time constraint wasn’t always easy).  They were allowed to edit and change their answer after a discussion. We did this for every question, keeping the sense of urgency high as the timer kept them moving.  The kids enjoyed it and blank papers became a little more filled out, and the noise level was purposeful.  On a very surface level, I would say it was successful.  On a deeper level, the potential is huge - in so many ways!  Here’s my AHA list

• Kids got to review work from Friday and think a little more deeply than they might have otherwise.
• The kids that clique together at the lower level were given permission to seek out higher level support instead of being forced into it.  My strugglers who bad together and sulk when I group the apart, were approaching kids they normally would not.
• The kids who’d done all their work and had focused on the task dug even deeper and were open to helping their peers (although I did spot one or two cases of frustration).
• My ‘sit & get’ kids were forced to ‘get up and find’
• The kids who like to avoid turning in their unfinished work (who can blame them - after all, maybe one day Mrs. B won’t notice!), happily put their work in the basket.  After all, they had answers now.  So, I can now eyeball the papers and get a feel for comprehension rather than just compliance.  
• I can ensure that everyone at least heard/saw the correct answer, even if he/she didn’t discover it for him/herself.  
• If there is a class misconception, I can now discover it as I go through the papers.
• I had several students ask me names of the peer they had just talked with.  Jeff is right, they need to discover all these other kids in the class!

Next time - yes, notes will be included, some kind of feedback from the conversation.  That will take it up a notch.  As they become more familiar and get more adept at finding new partners, it will be someone new every time - actually, that will be the next time.  Why wait?

This, combined with the TQE (newest iteration of that today after watching a video for homework), is just going to keep adding depth to what we do in Room 1113!  Thank you, Jennifer, now what’s next?!