Let students talk!

Icebrakers

Yesterday we learnt som methods to start talking about a subject or to introduce an issue (Ice Breakers). The one I liked the most was a work in groups of three, which consisted in talking about what is a good student, or a good teacher (not all groups had the same subject). We had to draw it and put some adjectives in a piece of paper, which would be later put in discussion with the rest of the class and hanged on the class wall.

As Philosophy teacher, I'm very concentrate on activities that promote the discussion. So I think that in my Philosophy classes I could do something similar to this one, jaust changing the subject. For example, we could talk about what is a good philosopher, a good man or woman, a good leader, and so on. The students will have to use adjectives or sentences to describe the habilities that are required to be good in some of these things.

Questions with no answers

Another way of starting talking is just by showing a picture, and make the students make questions about it, that they would like to know about what is happening in the picture. As nobody, even the teacher, doesn't know the answer, the students become aware that there is no right answer and that they have to make hypothesis. Of course, the activity can continue by writing a text, or reading alternative texts about it with missing information in two versions (student A and B), so that they have to communicate to complete the information that they don't have.

Problems with speaking

It happens very often that students doesn't speak in class, or they have serious difficulties to start speaking, because they feel the pressure of being tested, they have fear of mistakes, or just no interest on the subject. Stuart gave us some advices:

- To give them time to practice in little groups and to prepare what they were going to say.

- To personalize the topic (making them talk about their own opinion or about things that they like).

From speaking to writing

Once we have introduced the topic by pictures, or we made a discussion obout a subject, it's important to work with important vocabulary before starting writing. The student can also write in pairs, and correct themselves with a correction code.

How to introduce vocabulary

The main idea of the methodology we are learning is that vocabulary is always learned in context. The first thing we have to decide is which vocabulary is receptive (they have to understand it, but no to use it), and which is productive (they have to be able to use it).

The different steps for vocabulary activities could be:

1. To present the vocabulary in context

2. To ask for definitions

3. To compare the own definitions with the partners

4. To compare the definition with the solution

5. To correct

6. To do associations in order to check if the comprehension is right.

What does it have to do with Philosophy?

 I think that really a lot. A very important task of Philosophy is to make things clear and, like Socrates did, to find good definitions of some important words like: Hapiness, Justice, Freedom, Goodness, Pleasure, and so on. The difference is that in Philosophy there is not a definitive answer or definition, so students will have to search for good definitions and also for good arguments to defend it.