Northfield Middle School: One Image

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One moment that made a lasting impression on me from my tutoring experience took place during the students’ Socratic seminars. For each seminar, students who shared argumentative essay topics discussed their thoughts on the issue and shared their individual research with their peers. This discussion was on school policy. Five students gathered around the center table to talk, while their peers watched quietly from the outskirts of the room. The students were visibly nervous, tapping through notes on their iPads and speaking hesitantly. A young girl named Olivia presented her idea about mental health days for students, which her peers supported with enthusiasm and personal anecdotes about how this policy would be valuable for them. One student talked about how she had to return to school after the death of a family member and how difficult it was for her to participate in her classes at that time, to which her peers responded with understanding and support. Olivia’s willingness to share sparked conversation among the group, and soon the dialogue became more energetic and engaging. I found this image of Olivia and the group’s discussion of mental health powerful because it illustrated to me the maturity of these students and their ability to have informed discussions about serious topics. It also highlighted the importance of collaborative work to expand students’ perspectives and share important ideas.

This image stands out because it was a unique instance during my observations at Northfield Middle School, not a representation of my overall experience. Most of the classes that I observed consisted of a mixture of lectures, small group discussions, and independent work. The Socratic seminar was a larger collaborative activity that allowed me to listen fully to the thoughts of each group. I think that this moment was also exceptional because the students were clearly invested in the topic of school policy, and specifically mental health days. This subject was relevant to their lives as students more so than the steps of writing an argumentative essay, for example. While they were respectful and willing to participate in previous discussions on writing, this conversation was unusually passionate.

This image reinforced for me the value of cooperative learning. Participating in the Socratic seminar on their argumentative essay topic gave the students the opportunity to articulate their research and arguments and to learn from their peers. In this process, each student served as an MKO for their classmates on their specific field of research, such as dress code, technology use in schools, or mental health. I think this moment highlights the benefits of cooperative learning because all the students learned from Olivia’s research and Olivia developed her own perspective by hearing her classmates’ related anecdotes. For a teacher, I think that this moment indicates the value of stepping back and giving students an opportunity to work together in a self-directed way. Teachers should appreciate that students can learn a great deal from one another, and encourage students to work together through exercises like the Socratic seminar. This is essentially my final conclusion about teaching and learning; teachers should provide students with opportunities to work together collaboratively and encourage students to teach their peers to enhance their class’ learning. Students will deepen their understanding of topics by explaining them to their classmates, and their classmates will learn new ideas from their peer MKOs.

• This topic was modified 3 years, 9 months ago by Tonja Clay.

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