Gladly Would I Teach

A few weeks ago, I posted information about an exciting class discussion procedure called World Cafe. I used the approach yesterday for the first time, and the group discussions proceeded much better than other forms of discussions that I have used in the past. If you are looking for a new or perhaps more productive way to place kids in groups and have them discuss a work of literature or a topic, take a look at World Cafe.

My Original Post on World Cafe

Yesterday I used a modified World Cafe approach when I had my students discuss the essay “Best In Class” by Margaret Talbot. Since the essay analyzes the problems many schools now face when designating a class valedictorian, I knew the essay would spark a wonderful discussion for seniors. Since I have more than 25 students in each of my classes, it is difficult for all students to participate productively. I knew that students would discuss more if I allowed them to work in small groups, but, as we all know, sometimes those groups are not nearly as productive as we would like, and students don’t have the opportunity to discuss their ideas with students outside their small groups.

I knew this was the perfect opportunity to use the World Cafe approach. I modified the procedure slightly to fit my class situation. I created 5 groups simply by having students count off by 5s. I then gave each group a different question to discuss in their groups. I reduced the time that students had to work in each group to only 10 minutes so all students (except the table leaders who stayed in the same group for the entire discussion) had the opportunity to go to each group and discuss the designated question.

At the end of the period, we all came together as a class, and I asked table leaders to summarize the main points that came up in their groups as well as interesting ideas that students interjected.

Throughout the period, most students were on task and interested in the assignment, and they seemed to like moving from group to group. By the 4th or 5th round, some of the students felt they were repeating themselves in discussions because there was so much overlap in the questions. Next time I will probably need to write better questions that don’t overlap as much or shorten the last couple of rounds.

Most importantly, the process worked so well that I will definitely use it again and keep refining for my students. Whereas I did not include table cloths or paper for students to doodle and write out some of their ideas with this assignment, I definitely want to include that in the future.

If you teach high school and want to give this approach a try, here’s a link to the essay my students read for homework as well as the handout that I distributed to my groups (one handout per group).

Best in Class by Margaret Talbot

Best in Class Group Assignment

Because I am always looking for new ways to conduct class discussions, I was excited when I recently learned of World Cafe', a discussion technique for holding productive discussions among large groups of people.

The technique entails splitting a large group into  smaller groups of 4-5 people who sit at a table together. Each table is given one question to discuss for roughly 20 minutes and members are encouraged to take notes and doodle on paper tablecloths.

At the end of the first round, one person designated as the "host" remains at the table for another round. The other table members move to other tables for the second round of discussion over a similar question. The second round begins with the "host" at each table discussing the findings of the first round and asking new table members to add to the findings.

Most discussions should have at least 3 rounds, and time must be reserved for a concluding discussion for the entire class. 

Although World Cafe' was designed originally for discussions of social problems, I think the procedure can be modified for classroom discussions of literature. In the next week, I plan to look at the discussion questions I already have for upcoming reading selections and select the questions that I think will work best in a World Cafe' discussion that I can implement the following week.

Please see the following websites for more information

Welcome to the World Cafe'

Cafe' to Go Quick Reference

How do teachers with decades of experience remain productive and vibrant in the classroom? Find a new and exciting approach to something they have always taught!