Week+Fourteen+Discussion

Group 4 (Breakout Room 1) Week 14- Discussion Groups

Members Present- Dave, Whitney and Yelena ( facilitator)

The group met and discussed the issues relating to group discussions. Dave opened the discussion with an example of using discussion groups in his class. He explained that he took two days out of his schedule to speak engage his students in discussion groups. This group allowed them to discuss their feelings of anxiety and also have those feelings honored by their teacher simply inquiring how they were feeling. Whitney then explained that group discussion was rather difficult in her context especially considering her subject, Mathematics and the difficult parents with whom she works. She also spoke of the time factor. She thought it would be almost be impossible to find the time to engage in this discussion. Yelena stated that time factor is also an issue foe her since she sees her students once a week and “pulling” them from classes to engage in a discussion group would be rather difficult if not impossible. This was a segue into the problems with this strategy, time being the biggest issue. Peterson in the reading spoke about 20-30 minutes being a good duration. The group discussed that in a setting, for example, Dave when he has 15 students, this time may not be enough to give each student time to discuss their issues, especially someone goes odd on a tangent or if a “heavy” issue is brought up. Another problem is the issue of confidentiality and maturity. How do you ensure pr know what these students are really equipped to handle. The good aspects of this is that students have an outlet to discuss issues that they may be having. Drawing the line between teacher/counselor comes with training. This therefore means that the teacher has to be aware of the channel of command and follow it accordingly if an issue is brought up that may be out of her realm. Therefore is this is an issue that may need to be referred to a counselor then the issue will be handled in that manner. Follow-up activities and creative ways to utilize the strategy are as follows: a journal, poetry corner or an art exhibit. It simply depends of how the students wish to document the moment/express themselves.