Where I am Now: Complex Fishbowl Discussions

In a previous post, I described the Simple Circle format I begin with each year. Last year, I started a lengthy experiment with fishbowl discussions. Off and on, in previous years, I had used a simple fishbowl format, but I'd never used it repeatedly over a long period of time. I combined the fishbowl format with a group-grade, which was an idea Brandon Neblett, my principal, urged me to try during some PLC discussions we had last year. This was a game-changer! (I've blogged about my experiences last year here and here.)

The group grade idea inspired me to get out of a rut. I'd been using Simple Circles for 15 years or so without changing the format much at all. (It's probably not a good idea to use any teaching method that long without seriously re-examining it! --And I know there are other areas of my teaching that need such re-examination.) 

I was afraid of using a whole-class group grade (though I may try it soon!), so I figured out a way to use a group grade within a fishbowl format. What I'm calling the Complex Fishbowl format is the result. I've been using it for much of the year in three of my classes.

For the Complex Fishbowl, I divide the class into two teams; each team gets 16 minutes inside the "bowl" to discuss the day's reading. Then the other team, which has been listening to the first, gets 10 minutes to ask the first group some questions. After that, the teams switch places and we do another 16+10-minute round. In two of my classes, the teams have been working together for much of the first semester. (A student in one class said "we're a family now," when I asked if they wanted me to re-configure the teams.) 

All the students use their laptops throughout the entire discussion. Each team uses a shared GoogleDoc to prepare for discussion, collecting in it quotations, questions, and ideas for their conversation. (While I have given out templates for this PrepDoc, as we call it, in the past, I am now asking the students to create their own organizational structures.)

Screenshot of GoogleChat session: Here, at the top,
I made a suggestion & then gave out some praise.

They also use the GoogleChat feature to monitor their own participation, making sure each group member contributes equally, and to keep track of the time. (I lurk in the Chat, participating when necessary, and giving out praise for good conversational moves.) 

When a group is in the outer circle, it uses its shared PrepDoc and the Chat function to brainstorm questions for the upcoming Q&A session, during which it must engage with the entire inner circle. 

Screenshot of GoogleChat session:  Here, the outer circle is planning its Q&A session. One student
has to rely on his friends to give him a question because he forgot to prepare his own while
listening to the inner circle's discussion, It happens.

Each group is graded as a group, according to a rubric. (This rubric is created with iRubrics, a free standalone feature of the RCampus LMS.)

In order to be successful, the groups must strategize before & during the discussion. They have to learn to function as a team outside of the fishbowl, while listening, and while prepping for class.

During the discussions, I am monitoring the two PrepDocs, the two chat sessions, while also keeping a tally of individual participation for each segment of the conversation. I am also keeping time, along with the students. (I have just recently turned over the job of keeping time entirely to the students...) Obviously, my goal is to get all my classes to the point where they don't need constant monitoring. We're almost there in two of three classes...

Here's a screenshot of my laptop screen: I have the two PrepDocs open, and the two Chat sessions. 

In this discussion format, with the group grade, the students are now fully invested in having the best discussion they can; it's their job to make sure everyone is participating to the best of their abilities. (Because I also do some kind of daily assessment, the group discussion grade is roughly 30%-50% of the day's overall grade.) 

As you'll see from the annotated 58-minute video below, the conversation does not really involve me at all. And while this complex structure can seem artificial, I think you'll see that, at its best, it has its own flow... 

Please let me know what you think in the comments!