“What do you remember about our class?” I asked my English class in May, the last month of their senior year. The students sat quietly and thought about their questions.
“I remember how much we disagreed, but we still had so much respect and I loved that. I loved how much respect we had for each other. I loved it,” one of them said.
I nodded to show that I understood and that this was important to me as well. I was also shocked by how skillfully the students objected. In a year filled with turmoil, geopolitical strife, and a coronavirus hangover, I often hear from my 17- and 18-year-old students about a variety of topics, including their views on the Black Lives Matter movement. , I was often amazed at how calmly and respectfully they disagreed. and the nuances surrounding it, Donald Trump’s decisions during his presidency, and the moral complexities surrounding George’s choice to shoot Lennie in “Of Mice and Men.”
How did that happen? So, I decided to experiment with spider web discussions. This is a strategy that leverages the web of connections between and among learners while allowing learners to bounce ideas back and forth in the discussion. I learned about this innovative classroom practice by Alexis Wiggins in his 2017 book, The Best Lesson You Never Taught. The idea is simple. The teacher guides students before and after the discussion, shares norms, and models sentence beginnings, but during the discussion, the teacher remains silent.
We practiced this strategy regularly throughout the year. After each discussion, we placed a piece of paper in the center of the circle that read, “The goal is to better understand this work and ourselves.” This consistent goal has driven our conversations and the development of a set of norms that we use to foster a culture of respect and ensure all voices are heard.
Over time, students developed social skills and strategies for listening and expressing disagreement effectively. I started hearing students say things like, “I understand what you’re saying, but I don’t agree with you because…” or “I hear where you’re from, but can I ask you a question?” I did.
I’ve been teaching writing and English in this rural K-12 public school for nearly five years, but this year felt different. My students developed a true respect for civil discourse and the skills to participate in it.
This was the last high school class I taught before taking a new position as an assistant professor at Peru State University in Peru, Nebraska. There I teach a course for new teachers on educational technology.
Apply this strategy to your work with new teachers
Working with in-service teachers is completely different from teaching high school students. One of the challenges is finding ways to model good teaching while providing the content students need. As I reviewed the content of my undergraduate educational technology course for the fall, I couldn’t help but think about how many complex issues there are that require open dialogue. One of the most obvious and timely issues was educational and instructional. Changes related to the emergence of artificial intelligence tools. I use my experience with Spider Web Discussions to engage students in thoughtful discussions about AI in the classroom, allowing them to safely voice their opinions while some raise concerns and pitfalls, while others embrace the possibilities. We wanted to recreate an environment that could be different.
We thought this strategy would allow us to not only experiment with AI tools, but also discuss ethical issues and burning questions. I decided to read and implement a text called The AI Classroom: The Ultimate Guide to Artificial Intelligence in the Classroom. This text included practical step-by-step instructions that both teachers and in-service teachers could engage in learning. AI waters.
Before our first spiderweb discussion, we watched the following video. video When we looked at the percentage of high school students who used this strategy, we got a clear idea of what these types of discussions look like. It depicted students holding the text “Romeo and Juliet,” pointing to specific parts, asking questions, and respectfully disagreeing. The teacher did not speak at any point in the video. Instead, she mentored her students both before and after they started.
When my students started discussing the text, I found myself wanting to say a lot. But I held myself back and was surprised again and again when my students brought up all the points I was itching to talk about.
The importance of creating a safe space for open discussion
As a social constructivist, I was not surprised that in addition to my students’ learning, this form of discourse led to me learning a lot myself. Over the next few weeks, as we continued to use this strategy, students began sending me articles, video links, and movie recommendations related to our discussions about AI without my prompting. Ta. It was clear that the conversation was extending beyond the classroom, and my curiosity was piqued. What surprised me most was how the ideas they shared were so different from mine and how it was a learning opportunity for me. For example, if we didn’t let our students take the lead, we wouldn’t have thought about environmental impact or the morality of graduating high school students who have never used AI. This strategy allowed me to create space to learn from and with my students.
As a former high school English teacher, I can’t stop thinking about Frankenstein. The moral dilemmas that emerge as themes and author Mary Shelley’s warning against the endless pursuit of science and technology weigh heavily on my mind. Similar ethical issues arise in the debate around AI. What gives me peace of mind is that we discuss these issues in class.
We explore the challenges of using these tools, including how these technologies can perpetuate racism, the impact of implicit bias in decision-making, and the risks students face from AI. and talking about the results. hallucination and prompt drift (Over time, the ability to follow the instructions of a generative AI tool decreases). We question the fairness issues that arise as AI tools move behind paywalls. And as we explore the tools, students are openly discussing how this is impacting their pre-service teacher education. For example, just as these aspiring teachers are learning to create lesson plans, is it a bad thing that we are exploring tools to create lesson plans and be able to create them quickly?
As a teacher and facilitator, these questions can cause me dizziness, but what I’ve found so far is that even when I focus on existential questions, I still find my way back into classroom practice. about it. The reality is that some of my students may find it frustrating trying to get a job in a district that bans AI tools. Some people feel pressured to use tools despite their doubts and hesitations. Spiderweb discussions can be volatile at times, but they have created a space where we can consider tough conversations without fear, and they have set us up to learn and grow together.