Socratic Seminar Reflection
Format: Typed, double-spaced, 1-2 pages, 12 pt. Times News Roman, 1” margins
In your reflection, you should discuss the following categories:
1. Specific ideas you found particularly interesting and why. Give specific examples and explain your reasoning. Please include who said the idea (this shows me you were listening carefully).
For example, “I found Brad’s speculation that not wearing white after Labor Day is connected to the Puritan’s dress code for wearing somber outfit interesting because I had not made that connection myself. However, I am not sure I agree with this connection because I am wondering whether those arbitrary color rules have more to do with Southern etiquette and Emily Post rather than Puritanism. I need more information on this; however, Brad’s comment jump started my thinking on the ways in which we dress in America today and how they might be connected to Puritanism.”
2. Unanswered questions or ideas you are still grappling with regarding the topic. Explain why you still have these questions or intellectual tensions.
For example, “I question George Will’s argument that Puritan asceticism has led to the gross accumulation of “material delights” in our society today. Were people truly rebelling against the Puritan way of life or was capitalism in and of itself a driving force? Can we really link the two? I am not convinced by Will’s reasoning. I need more evidence suggesting that people’s extravagant spending is a response to Puritanical austerity.”
3. Discussion of why you scored yourself on the rubric for each category the way you did and specific examples supporting your self-score.
For example, “I responded to Oscar V’s question regarding whether President Bush is a modern-day Puritan. I referred to the Puritan Moral Code’s rule that all sins should be punished and connected this code to Bush’s references to evil in the Middle East needing to be crushed. This example reflects how I was listening intently to the conversation, following the ideas, and extending them by providing a relevant example that pushed the discussion forward, which is why I gave myself an “Excellent” in listening and speaking and reasoning.”
4. The class’s overall participation and assessment of your chosen person– strengths and areas of improvement. Please provide specific examples supporting your point.
For example, don’t say: “Everyone was nice.” Instead say, “Generally, everyone listened carefully to the speaker. For example, I noticed that when Luis was speaking, every student was looking at him and taking notes. This also happened when Stephanie talked about Edwards’s simile about God’s wrath being bent like a bow. However, when Garrett was talking, I saw two people whispering. This happened several other times. Due to our class’s inconsistent listening, I would say it was a strength at times as well as an area of improvement. Additionally, I observed [student’s name]. She was prepared because…”
Also, here is a link to our class-created rubric for you to self-assess on:
Also, here is a link to our class-created rubric for you to self-assess on:
Gabrielle Coia
ReplyDeleteMrs. Colando
English 9 Honors
7 October 2016
The Socratic Seminar involving Group 2 (which was about social injustices) brought up many ideas. I found Hagop’s notion of not to judge a book by its cover particularly interesting because Rayona surprised Annabelle when she rode for Foxy at the rodeo. If Annabelle did not judge her physical appearance and ethnicity in the first place, she would have seen Rayona as a friend from the beginning of their relationship. I feel that though Rayona was being judged, it was not to the extent that she assumed. Because Rayona was so insecure, her biggest critic was herself.
I am still struggling to understand Sophia’s argument of how Ida’s braiding could symbolize each perspective intertwining at the end of the novel. I question this because Rayona was not yet born and Christine had not yet experienced her full life. Could the braiding be a foreshadowing of upcoming events? Personally, I saw the braiding as a part of Indian culture that was mentioned to show Father Hurlburt that he does not understand Ida’s full story, just like he could not understand the braiding because he is bald.
Using the socratic seminar rubric, I scored myself a total of 14 out of 16 points. Regarding speaking and listening, I scored myself a 3 because I met the standards but I could have spoke more. For example, when Nick questioned the meaning of the title, I spoke about how I think the yellow raft symbolizes feeling isolated from society but did not go too far in depth because I wanted to stay on topic. I scored myself a 4 on “Using Textual Evidence” because I gathered quotes on each topic that was discussed including how people noticed that Father Tom showed a creepy amount of attention towards Rayona by including Annabelle’s quote, “How many sleeping bags you bringing there, Rayona? Two or one” (Dorris 53)? I also scored myself a 4 on “Preparation” because I fully annotated the book with ample notes over the summer, which helped me find specific quotes to use in the Seminar. Lastly, I scored myself a 3 on “leadership” because though I participated and added to others ideas, I primarily added onto the topics that were initiated by other people in the group. For example, we talked mostly about the differences between Father Hurlburt and Father Tom, which did not involve much initiative. However, I linked the idea with not having to be affiliated with the church to be religious to Father Hurlburt continuing a friendship with Ida even though her actions are frowned upon by the church. Overall, I both exceeded and met the standards of each category on the rubric
Generally, the outer circle watched the inner circle very keenly and were respectful when the seminar was occurring despite the fact that it was difficult to hear people at times. Hagop and Jaime were especially prepared with notes and displayed an impressive amount of leadership in their groups. Also, the members of the inner circle were very respectful to one another by keeping eye contact and never engaging in side conversation. Everyone understood each other's ideas and added to them. For example, I thought of Father Tom as a completely bad person. However, Nick suggested that he may have been misunderstood without dismissing my thoughts and I changed my perspective of him. Each student I observed was well-prepared with adequate notes and participated a substantial amount. Overall, everyone was respectful and well-prepared.
Ryan Silva
ReplyDeleteMrs.Collando
ELA 9 Honors
7 October 2016
Self-Assessment/Socratic Seminar Response
Something I found interesting about Group 6 was something that Makayla had said. This was that how the braiding of the hair relates to the character’s stories and lives. How there are three strands that are woven together. This represents the three generations of people, and how their lives affect each other’s. I found this interesting as it really does represent how the novel’s story plays out. The three main characters’ pasts all affect the present time, which was Rayona’s point of view. Also, they all end up at the reservation, a place where all of their lives had an important change or event. Without this comment it would have never opened my mind up to the symbolism of the braid.
A question I still struggle with is whether or not some of the characters are more trustworthy than others. My group (Group 1) was discussing this and we had said Ida was the most trustworthy, although this is still debatable. She was trustworthy to only one person, Clara, and she wasn’t for the whole time since she kept Christine, and still didn’t tell anyone about her actual mother. So she was lying to everyone as some point. An important lie Christine told was about not telling Rayona she was sick and was dying. Lastly Rayona lied her way throughout her whole point of view. Although it was for good reason in her perspective, it still makes her untrustworthy, at least to strangers. Overall, I’m still not sure about this.
I scored myself around 2-3 on the rubric, and this was for many reason. Generally, I missed out on a lot of important parts of the discussion. This includes many things. First of all I didn’t have much text evidence. On top of that I didn’t provide many specifics for my statements such as when I talked about Christine’s point of view, and I didn’t ask many new questions. Although, I had spoken a lot in the discussion, responded to others, and kept eye contact.
Overall, the class had done really well in the socratic seminar. Starting with the outer circle. They were phenomenal. No one spoke out, and when it was the outer circle’s turn to speak most people had provided great feedback, and added important parts to the discussion. In the inner circle the groups did very well as well, especially for their first time. The first seminar to occur for example had a very natural flow to it, and everyone spoke about an equal amount of times at an equal level. An example of someone from the first group was Isabella Corso. She had done very well in the discussion. She spoke lots of times and responded to others, she kept eye contact as she talked, she asked new questions and referred to the text, and lastly she did something I didn’t see any other speaker do. She had actually encouraged others to speak. Later on I was surprised by this as no one else I observed had done this. Overall, the class had done very well.
Abigail Royal Royal 1
ReplyDeleteMrs. Colando
English 9 Honors
7 October 2016
Socratic Seminar Reflection
What I found interesting during the socratic seminar was when Ryan said “How the perspectives went from youngest to oldest so by the end of the story all the secrets were revealed.” I agree with this, because the story builds up and it becomes exciting at the end. However it did make the story boring in the beginning, but by the end, as Ryan said “all the secrets were revealed”, which helped the readers understand why characters acted the way they did. During the story I did pick up on why the story was put in three perspectives and the order the narrators were in, so the story would build up.
One question I still have is “What makes Ida the most trustworthy besides the fact she kept Lecon’s and Clara’s secret”. In the Seminar, we all agreed Ida was the most trustworthy because she kept a secret, but that was our only evidence. Even though Rayona lied in the story, she had a reason to because she did not trust anyone to tell them the truth, but should could be someone you could trust. Even though Ida did not lie she did kept a secret she should have shared with Christine. Which makes her not as much of a trustworthy person as she seems.
On the rubric for listening and speaking I graded myself a four, because I listened to the other members in my group and did not interrupt them while they were speaking. Also I added onto my group members ideas. For example when Danny talked about the different perspects and why they were in that order I added on, by giving an example on, if Ida’s section came first everything would be revealed, like how Cristine is not Ida’s daughter. For using textual evidence i scored myself a three
Royal 2 because I used textual evidence to back my argument about if the narratives went Ida, Christine, Rayona everything would be revealed. I sited the page 310 were Ida argues to take the blame for Clara’s and Lecon’s mistake and said how Cristine is not Ida’s daughter. Next, for preparation I scored myself a four because i Prepared myself with two sheets of arguments and evidence. Also I put markers were my quotes were in the book. Lastly, for leadership I scored myself a four because I changed the subject when my group kept repeating the same thing over. I also responded to my group members arguments and added some more details. Lastly i brought a key point my group members missed which was that “Ida was Christine's half sister” because Lecon is actually Christine's dad and is Ida’s dad.
I think as a class everyone participated and was prepared for the Socratic Seminar. For one of my chosen persons I did was Makayla Vieira. Makyla did a good job by making arguments and speaking a lot. Also for the majority of the time she made eye contact with everyone who was speaking in her group. However, she could have referred to the text more and lad the group more. Overall she did a good job. One interesting point she said was ‘ the three generations represent the three strands of hair in a braid, and they get woven together.
Benjamin Jackvony
ReplyDeleteMrs. Colando
English 9 Honors
6 October 2016
Reflection
The Socratic Seminar is an interesting way of discussing books, articles, etc. Many elements go into it. I found that Vy’s comments about how the white people were in the position of power particularly interesting. I found this interesting because I have never really thought of it the way she did. She claimed that white people were in power because it was a mostly white government at the time. That is not the interesting part though, she also said how the Indian reservation was not in good condition because the white people did not care and that they were in the position of power. I never really thought about it this way, and how this could be a similar situation for other races.
I am still trying to figure out how people fought against it. I did not see a prime example of this in the story which is why I still am trying to find an answer to the question. In the group, this was one of the more brief topics which is why I am still unclear. If this topic was talked about a great deal more than I probably would have had a more clear view of the question.
On the self scoring rubric, on the speaking and listening, I ranked myself as a four for speaking loud and clearly, but I do not think that I talked enough in the group, since it was the first time I did not know what to expect. I wish I had talked more. If we do another seminar I will make sure to ask more questions and participate more. On the leadership section, I put a 4 on the “brings out a key idea missed by group,” because nobody mentioned how Lee was excited to have Indian friends during his time in the army, which gave a whole new conversation on that and other group members elaborated on that. It was a good point to bring up.
I think that the overall class participation was good, there were some quiet people and people that took a lead of the conversation such as Jaci, or Vy. One thing that I noticed was that everyone was respectful and kind, nobody interrupted on purpose, nobody was having side conversations, we had a very respectful class which is good. Additionally I observed Cameron Alves, he was prepared because he talked many times, he was very confident, and referred to the text many times which is why I know he was prepared.
Nicole Perreault
ReplyDeleteMrs. Colando
Period 3
October 7, 2016
Socratic Seminar Reflection
I found that Sophia Saccoccio’s comment about how Rayona, Christine and Ida all had equally rough lives interesting because I disagreed with this statement. I feel as if Rayona had the toughest life out of all three strong women. Since Rayona was the youngest generation, I feel as if she had it the worst. The more time that went by, the more lies and secrets there were between the three different generations. Christine and Ida keep so much from Rayona, which is very unfair to her. Also, she feels lonely and has no one left to trust or talk to after Christine leaves her. After that she feels as if there is no hope for the rest of her life. She feels stuck and trapped, like there is no where else she can go. I still do not fully understand the reasoning behind Dorris’s reasoning at the end of the story. Why would he have Father Hurlburt in the last scene with Ida? What is the significance of his presence in the scene? I understand the final sentence relating to the symbol of braids, but what does Ida braiding her hair in front of Father Hurlburt have to do with essential features of Ida’s culture? I responded to Makayla Viera’s comment about the importance of braiding throughout the book, especially towards the end. I referred to the text regarding the importance of hair in the story. This includes when Rayona was envying Ellen and describing how perfect she looked and also the last sentence of the book which reminds the reader of the symbol braids which is used numerous times in the book. This example proves that I was paying attention. I listened to Makayla’s comment and then added onto her ideas of braiding by bringing up two different scenarios from the text, which is why I gave myself a four in speaking and listening. Overall, I observed that our entire class was respectful and listened intently to the conversation the majority of the time, whether in the inner or outer circle. Everyone in the outer circle had comments regarding to a specific member in the inner circle. This means they must have been listening to the conversation the inner circle was having. The outer circle was also never disruptive to the group in the middle circle, though at times there was whispering throughout the class, but only for a very short amount of time. They never disturbed the conversation going on in the inner circle. People in the inner circle always payed attention and listened to what their other group members were saying. This is because everyone added onto each other’s ideas, which proves group members were listening.
Kaitlyn Fitzgerald
ReplyDeleteMrs. Colando
English 9 Honors per. 3
7 October 2016
Socratic Seminar Reflection
Many different points of view went around the circle as we discussed our question. One thing that we all agreed about was that the women were definitely more bold and say what they have to say. Another thing that we touched upon in our group was who had more moral fiber. Elizabeth had mentioned that the women had more moral fiber than the men. I recall when Massimo had expanded on that when he mentioned, that Clara showed that she had more moral fiber because she expressed that she was sorry for what she had done. Lecon for example shut himself out and did not handle the situation properly. One thing that I found interesting that we touched on was that the women did not hold anything back. For example, when Christine ran into Elgin at the bar and she told him that she knew all about his girlfriend and how he has been out with other women. For me that was the most important topic that we discussed.
Some of the unanswered thoughts and questions for me were about the three generations of women. I would have wanted to add more about what the three women have in common. One question that comes to my mind would be, who out of the three women had more moral fiber? Also, I wonder why Dorris had given the women characters in the book a more difficult life and more obstacles to overcome. Many parts about the women in the book were not answered in my groups discussion.
On the rubric I gave myself three fours and one three. I gave myself a four in listening and speaking because I thought that I made great eye contact with the person speaking as well as participating myself with my own thoughts quite often. I also gave myself a four in using textual evidence because in my notebook I had about four pages of textual evidence and questions to discuss during the seminar. Another topic I gave myself a four in was preparation. I annotated after every chapter in my book as I read. I asked myself questions if I didn’t understand what was happening in a particular scene and I made connections to other books I have read in the past. The topic I gave myself a three on was leadership. I did not take charge of the group. In my group I thought that everyone spoke an equal amount and that their was not one person who took control.
Altogether, I thought that our class listened to each group. Each person took great observation notes. A few things that our class needed to improve on would be, when in the outer circle, the class members have to pay more attention to the group that is discussing their question in the inner circle. Also, another thing that our class needs to improve on is our volume when we talk. Group, 1 that was in the inner circle on October 4th, was very quiet and I could barely hear what they were discussing. Other groups also spoke very quietly and it was hard to understand them. By following people such as Caroline, Nicole and Matt I thought that everyone was very prepared with textual evidence. Generally, as a class we did a great job listening and speaking to our peers both inside and outside the circle, but need improve on just a few small areas.
Makayla Vieira
ReplyDeleteMrs. Colondo
6 October 2016
Period 3
Socratic Seminar Reflection
I found Gabriellas opinion on the title of the Yellow Raft in Blue Water being related to the story through discrimination to be interesting because I had similar thoughts on this aswell. When reading the story I wondered why the author would name the book A Yellow Raft in The Blue Water when literally the raft did not have a lot to do with the story. Symbolically, I agree with Gabriellas statement but am not quite sure if she meant it the same way I had. I think that the yellow raft symbolizes the characters because it stands out amongst the blue water similar to how the three main characters felt in the story because each of them felt they were different amongst society and one another. Could Michael Dorris have meant for the title to relate to the feelings of the characters? Or he may have had other specific reasoning for his choice in title. Based on the other connections he intended to make in the story I think he wanted the title to refer to the story.
I question Jordan's comment that water symbolizes something depressing in all aspects of the book. However water may have symbolized something sad and depressing in Rayona and Christine's section of the story, I believe that Ida found peace through water. There were not many parts in Ida's story that referred to water but I come to my conclusion during one scene when she says “The bath brought me peace, made me float free.” Showing that she found the water calming and made her feel a sense of freedom when touched upon it versus it relating to something sad.
Using the Class Created Rubric I scored myself a three on the speaking and listening because I think I met all of the requirements but could have spoke louder and and with more tone and emotion. However, I think I made a lot of eye contact with the group, moved the conversation along and asked up to three questions. For using textual evidence I feel as if I excelled in responding to others and making specific and relevant details. Although, I could have made more direct references and annotations from the text such as taking more notes on the pages I found related to the questions and writing down more questions I came up with while reading.
Predominantly everyone in the class paid attention throughout the outer circle and spoke clearly with lots of detail in the inner circle. Everyone was able to take notes and listen to the discussion and nobody talked when they shouldn't have or had side conversations. Everyone had good things to say about one another after the discussion and encouraged others to join the conversation more by asking questions. The only improvement I would suggest for the entire class is to speak loudly and more fluently in the inner circle because in some circumstances it was hard to observe some parts of the discussion in order to write things down. Overall I think the class was well prepared throughout the socratic seminar.
Massimo Feroce
ReplyDeleteMrs. Colando
English 9 Honors
7 October 2016
Socratic Seminar Reflection
Everyone in my group contributed important ideas into the conversation. However, the most interesting point of view was from Kaitlin, when she stated that Evelyn and Rayona had a special connection that nobody else had. I always thought that the biggest connection was between Ida and Clara, but when she stated her point I began to agree with her. Rayona talked about her problems with Evelyn and that was a huge deal. Rayona even lived with Evelyn for a short period of time during the novel. Evelyn helped Rayona by bringing her to the rodeo to find Christine and go back home with her family. Because of Kaitlin giving her point of view on that topic, it changed my point of view. Another very interesting point came from Elizabeth, when she talked about how the women had to learn how to become independent because they had nobody to help them. The more I thought about it, the more I saw that it was a very good point. The big majority of the story was based on the fact that the women were independent people.
Even with all the discussions I still have some at unanswered questions about the yellow raft in blue water. One at unanswered question is “Does Ida ever tell Rayona about her family's past, after the end of the novel?” If Ida eventually told Rayona about her family’s past it could either scar her for life or make her happy that she finally knows the truth about her past. Another question that I have, is “Does Christine ever die?” I know she was only expected to live six more months, but many people sometimes surpass their expectancy and live much longer. One last question I have, is “What happened on that yellow raft on the lake with father Tom and Rayona?” We know that father Tom is embarrassed for what it happened, but we never the true story.
I felt that I did a very good job explaining the question thoroughly throughout the novel. When I stated the fact that Clara had more moral fiber because she told items mom that she was very sorry for what she had done and you could tell that she was sorry. On the other hand we con never said that he was sorry and just shut himself away. He did not face the problem head on like Clara did. I also asked many questions. For example, one question was, “Who do you think was the strongest character?” This is why I gave myself a 4 in the speaking and listening section. For the Using Textual Evidence Section, I also gave myself a 4 because every argument I made was grounded by textual evidence. For example, I stated that Clara felt very terrible for having a baby with Lecon and called herself names, while Lecon shut himself away. This showed Clara had more moral fiber. Lastly, I gave myself a 4 in Leadership and Preparation, because i came to the seminar with ample notes, quotes, and questions. At the end, I summed up everyone’s ideas and I had some thought provoking questions and statements.
Everyone listened carefully to the speaker. For example, when Cameron was talking everyone was looking at him, and when he was done speaking, the rest of the group thought about his statement, took notes when needed, and continued on to the next topic. Every group in the class did this. Additionally, I observed Cameron. He was prepared because in the seminar, I saw him refer back to his notes many times, and as many important questions. All of his arguments were grounded with textual evidence that supported his statement. I thought he did a very good job during the seminar. Overall, I thought the class was well prepared, which made the seminars run more smoothly and keep the outside circle interested throughout the seminar.
Jordyn Payne
ReplyDeleteMrs. Colando
English 9 H
7 October 2016
Socratic Seminar Reflection
To begin with, I found all of the topics that were discussed in the seminar intriguing. One particular interesting comment was made by Isabella Corso, who was in Group 4 (religious aspect of the book). Isabella stated that Father Hurlburt represented the better side of a priest and Father Tom represented the worst. This caught my intention because I myself did not think of this. Isabella’s statement made me realize that supposedly ‘good’ things, like religion, may not be what it seems, and that there is still some doubt found within religion. Because of such a statement, I was able to better identify the purpose of Father Hurlburt and Father Tom within the story.
I question Elizabeth Marses’ statement that, even though Rayona may come off confident, she secretly doubts who she is. I could be oblivious, but I do not remember any incidents in which Rayona came off as confident. Did she actually have a confident facade around people? What did other characters (not narrators) actually think of Rayona? Was her insecurity visible? Though I cannot answer these questions, I do believe that this is debatable as we could only see Rayona through the eyes of her mother, her grandmother, and herself. Other character’s thoughts were not as evident as they would be if they were the narrator.
Overall, I believe that I did a decent job with my role in the Socratic Seminar. On the Class Created Rubric, I gave myself one three and three fours. I provided textual evidence for nearly, if not all, statements/arguments that I made, I was prepared with several notes as well as a few annotations within the actual book, and I added to other students’ ideas in order to move the conversation along. In these subjects, I credit myself as exceeding the standards. I believe I only met the standard in listening and speaking, as I did provided few questions and may have stuttered a little. However, I responded to my peers appropriately, as well as speaking clearly and maintaining eye contact with all members of my group, which helped me meet the standard.
With my observations, I concluded that most students did extremely well with participating. There may have been a student or two that provided little insight, but most of the class did so. One of the students I observed was Isabella Corso, and out of all of my partners, she seemed to have spoken the most. Not only did she speak a lot, but she asked questions, directed the conversation, and provided relevant insight for the rest of her group members. Also, all of her group members were interested in her opinions as well. I noticed that they added on to her ideas and asked questions for clarification and development of the conversation. However, I did notice a couple of times that when Isabella tried to speak, one of her group members started speaking at the same time. I am not aware if this was intentional or accidental, as I did see this in other groups too. Overall, the class contributed a lot to their discussions.
Isabella Corso
ReplyDeleteMrs. Colando
English 9
7 October 2016
Socratic Seminar Reflection
Socratic Seminars allow students to closely analyze a text amongst themselves, and are an interesting approach to classroom discussion about the selected text, A Yellow Raft in Blue Water by Michael Dorris. The seminars I participated in and observed gave way to insightful and in depth thoughts, questions, and ideas about the topics talked about that related to the story. As a class, we were able to connect everyone’s ideas and opinions and make inferences about the text we were given. Many interesting points were made and new perspectives and ideas were explored. This allowed me to further my understanding of the book and be able to reflect on what I have learned and what information the seminar provided for me.
There were various instances during the seminar where I found a point made to be interesting. I thought that when Nick stated how as readers we could not see inside Rayona’s mind and figure out exactly where she stood when it came to faith and religion was very thought-provoking. He was right in saying this, and it shed light onto all of the other unknown aspects of the story. Also, Gabby’s statement about how the incident with Father Tom probably weakened Rayona’s relationship with the church stimulated my thought process during the seminar. I did not totally agree, but I was able to realize how much a person’s surroundings and experiences could impact their religious beliefs.
Though many things were covered during the seminar, I have two questions that have remained on my mind. I still wonder about Ida’s affiliation with the church. Where does she stand religiously? Why does she distance herself from the church? I have pondered these questions because the answers would allow me to have a better understanding of why Ida is the way she is. Christine’s relationship with religion clearly shaped her life, but as readers we are unaware of how or if it shaped Ida’s. This was not really touched upon by anyone and caused me to continue thinking about it.
On the rubric, I gave myself a 15.5 out of 16. I awarded myself a four in the sections “using textual evidence”, “preparation”, and “leadership”. This is because I was able to correctly ground my arguments with relative textual evidence, like when I provided quotes with page numbers that had been previously annotated from Ida that supported my idea that religion shaped Christine’s life. I also have ample amounts of notes that prepared me for the seminar, which include important textual evidence, ideas, and questions. Along with using evidence and being prepared, I showed leadership by moving the conversation along, making sure to go over all parts of the topic question, and giving a concluding statement to sum up ideas. I gave myself a 3.5 in “speaking and listening” because although I spoke articulately and listen to my peers, I did not ask more than three questions, which I hope to improve upon next seminar.
Not only was I a participant, but I was also an observer. All of those I observed spoke many times during each discussion and made interesting points. For example, during one seminar, Nicole stated that the description of Ida’s house was a metaphor for the strength of the women. Vy also mentioned that “black” was used as a derogatory term. Both of these ideas were backed up with textual evidence. These two points are extremely insightful and exemplify my statement regarding the quality of ideas during each seminar. Everyone responded to and added onto the ideas of others, which kept up the flow of conversation. My only critique would be that students encourage others to speak more often and ask more of their own questions. Those that I followed did little to none of this. Aside from this, our class did an excellent job with the seminars and were able to delve even further into the text.
Alison D’Elena
ReplyDeleteMrs. Colando
English 9 Honors
7 October 2016
Socratic Seminar Reflection
During the Socratic Seminars, many different outlooks toward different topics in the book “A Yellow Raft in Blue Water.” Everyone in the class brought up something intriguing. Specifically, I found something that Katie said very interesting. In her group she stated “Everyone in the book who was different was discriminated against.” I found this interesting because it was true about the book, but it is also true about the world itself. When there is someone different in a group of similar people, discrimination is more than likely to happen.
I question Kaitlyn’s statement about how the male characters in the book were more dependent on other people. That is true some characters, but not all of the male characters. For example, in my opinion, Foxy and Dayton came across as independent and guarded people, almost like lone wolves. They were kind of secluded towards other people in the book. Those male characters seemed just as independent, if not more independent as some of the female characters.
Using the rubric, I assessed myself with three 4’s and one 3. I felt that I scored a 4 in Speaking and Listening. While in the inner circle I made sure to speak loudly and clearly, and as often as I could in the discussion. While speaking, I made I contact with everyone else in the discussion. I also think I did a good job with keeping the conversation going and listening to everyone respectively when they talked. I scored myself a 4 in using textual evidence as well. When it came to the day of the discussion, I was very prepared with textual evidence to use. Almost every time I spoke during the discussion, I backed up my statements with evidence straight from the book. I also gave myself a 4 in preparation. Before the seminar, I found a surplus amount of textual evidence to prepare for the discussion. The amount of annotation I had really helped stay on track and active in the group. Lastly, I gave myself a 3 for leadership. I felt I did a good job with participating in the discussion, adding thoughts when necessary, and moving the conversation along. I could've have reflected on other people’s thoughts as well as responded to their thoughts more in the discussion.
One of the people I followed while I was in the outer circle was Jaci. She difinitely spoke in her group discussion more than anyone else I followed. She did a good job of using textual evidence and adding to other people's ideas and statements in the group. Specifically, in the group I felt she had a strong grasp on her discussion topic and brought up some very interesting topics and evidence in the discussion. For example, Jaci elaborated well on the fact that many stories wouldn't be very clear to the reader if they weren't overlapped in the three different point of view. Overall, I feel that that the first Socratic Seminar was a success.
Katie Terceiro
ReplyDeleteMrs. Colando
English 9 Honors
7 October 2016
Socratic Seminar Reflection
I found it really interesting when Vy mentioned that some of the Indians on the reservation would speak in Indian in front of Father Tom, she explained that she thought they were making fun of him because he was not able to understand it. Also, he would laugh along with them to try and fit in which was actually him laughing at himself. This was really interesting to me because when I had read this part I did not see this as a form of discrimination but it really was, when Vy mentioned this it opened my eyes to other occurrences of indirect or subtle discrimination throughout the book. Another thing that I found interesting was when Hagop said that no power structures were really put into place to allow discrimination to occur, however what allowed it to occur was when a large group of peopled all had similar ideas or customs and looked down on those who were not like them. I found this particularly interesting because when I did research for the seminar that was the one question I really struggled to find information on. When he said this I realized it was because I was only looking for direct information not trying to think outside of the box as to what the answer could be.
A question that I still have even after the seminar is how was Father Tom able to handle the teasing, bullying, and exclusion from a lot of the Indians on the reservation? Going into the seminar I did not really have this question, however after Hagop brought this topic up it really got me thinking. Most of the time, Father Tom just laughed his way through things. What I want to know is if he was really not bothered by the rude comments and actions, or if he just laughed his way through everything because he did not want to seem weak in front of the Indians and give them not things to make fun of him for.
In the speaking and listening section I decided to give myself a three. I did this because I thought that I really helped move the conversation along by changing questions if we seemed to get to a point where we had nothing more to talk about. Also, I thought I spoke nice and clearly and made very good eye contact. The main reason why I did not give myself a four is because I know I did not really ask that many questions, I think I meet the sand with three questions but not more than that. I decided that I deserve a four in the Text Evidence section because I feel that I had a lot of really strong examples of text evidence. In some cases in may have not been taking direct quotes however I had examples of events in the text and I paraphrased to make the statement my own, which I feel is an advanced skill. I gave myself a three in the preparation section because I truthfully think I could have better prepared. I will be the first person to admit that I did not go through every section, I do not think I even got anything from Ida’s section because I procrastinated and was left with very little time too prep, however what I did prep I feel was very in depth and had a lot of thought put into it. Finally, I gave myself a four in leadership because I feel that I was a leader of the group without dominating the conversation. I think I moved the conversation along and provided some important observations that got the conversation going.
One of the people that I followed was Elizabeth and I think she did an incredible job, I could see that whenever she talked people were taking notes and paying close attention. That being said I also noticed that in some cases, people were not paying attention. They were sometimes doodling, talking to other students, or just seemed to be off in “la la land”.I noticed that in a lot of cases, people seemed to pay attention at the beginning of the seminar and as the seminar continued it seemed to lose people’s attention. Overall, I think that the class followed along very well and had good points when it came to the outer circle adding their opinion.
Dan Marella
ReplyDeleteMrs. Colando
English 9 H
7 October 2016
Socratic Seminar Reflection
In my seminar group I feel that what Jaci said about how the story has an element of mystery is very interesting. In the beginning you do not know much about the characters but as the the story progresses you begin to learn more and more about them. I found this quite interesting because I never really looked at it in this way and I came to agree with her on the fact. There really was not much evidence to support this statement, but you can easily figure it out through common sense that the author is building on suspense until it is mostly revealed in the end. I find that this statement would be very hard to disagree with since it is one of the main reasons why Dorris uses the three perspectives that this story is mostly know for.
In my group one of the more confusing questions asked as who was the most trustworthy. This question still boggles my mind because it is difficult to determine who really is the most trustworthy. Honestly, none of the three women are trustworthy. We all thought Ida was the most trustworthy just because she kept the secret of Christine not being her daughter. Yet, she still lied to so many people making her unreliable. To be honest I would not trust any three of these women for all of the lies that they tell. Overall I still feel like Ida would be the most trustworthy out of the three, but there needs to be more evidence to prove this statement.
I feel that I spoke well and often in the conversation. I had made eye contact almost every time I spoke. One question that I asked the group was that if they thought that Ida was the most trustworthy. This was one of the three questions I asked. I had used 4 good quotes from the text to support my reasoning and had chose meets standards for this category. One quote I had used was, “She wouldn't let us call her mom, since she hadn't married, but she claimed we favored her side.” Christine had said this and I used it to prove that Ida was lying to Christine about who her real parents were and that later on in the story it was revealed. I ended up choosing exceeds standards. I was very prepared, but my notes were not all that neat and had trouble understanding what I wrote, but had atleast five quotes and good points and rightfully chose meets standards. Finally I wasn't much of leader in the group, however I had started the conversation back up when there were some awkward silences and led some of the main questions. After we spoke about trustworthiness I brought the discussion back to the first question. For this category I believe that meets standards was a good choice.
Overall the class did very well. One classmate that I had followed was Caroline and she did very well in her group's discussion. She spoke many times and used eye contact every time that she had spoke. She also seemed to be listening very carefully, was respectful to others, and referred to the text often. As a class the inner circle was ready for any questions being asked and was prepared to back up there own statements. At times it was quite difficult to hear some speakers and I felt like they could have spoke a bit louder, but that is my opinion. The outer circle was constantly writing and tracking their partners. The class performance was definitely outstanding listening and speaking at all times and showing excellent effort. I believe the next Socratic Seminars that we do will be even greater than these first ones.
Sophia Saccoccio
ReplyDeleteMrs. Collando
English 9 H
7 October 2016
I found it interesting when Ryan said something along the lines of, “If Rayona never showed up at the hospital, Christina might have killed herself.” I found what he said interesting because I never thought of that while reading the book. Also, I do not really agree with what Ryan said. Christine only had a few months left to live anyway, I do not believe she would kill herself over Rayona not visiting the hospital.
All the members in Group 5 said that Christine, Ida, and Rayona are all very strong women. I partially agree with this claim, but I question it. Christine did face a lot in her lifetime. This includes identity issues, her brother dying, her husband leaving her, and her mother not always being nice to her. But, I question how strong Christine is. Christine is in the hospital and we find out that she is there often and it is due to alcoholism and prescription drug abuse. Later we find out she does not have much time left. Christine’s continuous and repetitive pattern of her partying and ending up in the hospital shows that she does not really have a care. Also, she runs away from her problems. After Lee died, she ended up moving to seattle with Elgin. When things with Elgin did not workout, she went back to the reservation. These things about Christine are what makes me question her emotional strength. Is it really fair to compare her to Ida, someone who lost part of her youth, and had to change her life forever, just to cover up a lie?
In the “Speaking and Listening” category of the Socratic Seminar-Class Created Rubric, I assessed myself at a three. I believe that I deserve a three in this category because I feel that I met the standards, without going above and beyond. I spoke clearly, appropriately, and at a good volume. I made eye contact and listened at all times. However, I did not ask more than three questions. A question I did ask was, “Does anybody have anything else to say about what they think will happen to Rayona, Christine and Ida?” In the “Using Textual Evidence” category, I assessed myself at a four because I backed up all my claims with relevant textual evidence. For example, I talked about how hair was also a part of the story because of how Rayona’s hair is a part of her that makes her different from others on the reservation. I gave specific evidence by quoting passages from pages 55, 56, 237, and 238. For the “Preparation” category, I assessed myself at a 4 because I feel like I was prepared for the seminar and had notes with specific page numbers, and annotations. Something written in my notes is, “Christine will probably die because p 234 said few months to live.” For the “Leadership” category, I assessed myself at a three. Although I felt well prepared, I do not think I came through as the dominant leader of the group. I attempted to summarize, ask questions, and add on to what others said. For example, when Mikayla mentioned braiding in Christine’s section, I added on to what she said by giving a specific page and quote from the text.
Generally, everyone listened to others while they were speaking. For example, Cameron shared at least two things he found interesting about what Nicole said. However, there were some instances where some students may have not been giving their undivided attention to the inner circle. For example, Nick said he followed Kaitlyn, but he did not seem to find anything interesting that she said, and he also did not have anything he wanted to add to the conversation. The inner circle seemed to always be listening to others speak. Occasionally, there would be some accidental interruptions, but everyone apologized. Mikayla and I both tried to speak at the same time. We both apologized and Mikayla said, “You can go.” As for a person I followed, Matthew’s strengths were that he made good eye contact. His areas of improvement are clarity and volume of his voice, as well as asking questions and engaging more with the other members.
Nick Izzi
ReplyDeleteMrs. Colando
7 October 2016
English 9 Honors
For the Socratic seminar I was a part of group 4. We discussed the religious aspects of the novel. I found Caroline Carbone's comments on Christine losing her faith particularly interesting. She also noted that Rayona over time had somehow become more religious than Christine. I observed that Christine lost her faith after the Promises of Fatama proved to be untrue in 1960. An unanswered question I still have is the details of what happened on the raft. Though the author appeared to have left it intentionally vague it was very confusing. I scored myself a 13/16 on the rubric. I believe I drove the conversation and spoke concisely and often. I did however use my original annotation and rarely cited from the text during the discussion. I believe I responded to everyone respectfully and though I had a lot to say, I let the other members of my group speak as well. I think the level of respect our class had for whoever was in the inner circle was absurdly high. I believe we were quiet and assessed them fairly during our pier assessment.
Vy Ho
ReplyDeleteMrs. Colando
English 9 Honors
7 October 2016
A Yellow Raft In Blue Water Reflection
I found that Massimo’s stance on Clara and Papa’s relationship was very interesting. He had said that Clara was much more hard on herself than Papa so therefore she had better morals. I found this interesting because I both agreed and disagreed with this statement. I feel as though Papa was much more hard on himself than Clara, but Clara’s moral fibers were still more intact. This is because Papa was mostly hard on himself through sulking and self-pity and he really only cared about himself and the way Clara saw him.
During the time the socratic seminar was happening, I was very confused as to why Sophia felt that Ida would not tell Rayona about their real relationship- as in Ida not really being her grandmother. Though this was cleared up afterwards, I could not wrap my head around it. Mostly because I disagreed. Many people in her group felt as though Ida wouldn’t tell Rayona for the fear of damaging their relationship any further. However, I feel like Rayona would thoroughly benefit from finding out the real secrets. There are obviously going to be times where Rayona wonders why things are the way they are and with this new information she would understand much better.
Generally, I graded myself at a 15.5 out of 16. I gave myself a 4 in leadership because I moved the conversation along very effectively throughout the seminar, also because at the end I had brought up points about Ida that the group had missed. I also gave myself a 4 on preparation and using textual evidence because I had backed up many, if not all, of my points with quotes from the text along with a thorough explanation. I gave myself a 3.5 on listening and speaking because while I had spoke a lot and listened carefully, I lacked questions to be asked.
Overall, I feel like the whole class did very well listening to each other from both the inner circle and outer circle. I knew this from the impressive amounts of eye contact made by everyone in the class. Out of everyone I followed, I thought that Cam was the most prepared by backing up many of his points with textual evidence. In the beginning of his seminar, he did not speak much but he quickly stepped up his game. Everybody I followed had an ample amount of notes and quotes.
Cameron Alves
ReplyDeleteMrs. Colando
Honors English 9
7 October 2016
Socratic Seminar Reflection
Isabella Corso’s thoughts on Father Hurlburt and Father Tom were very intriguing. When she said that Father Hurlburt represents the good of the religion and Father Tom represents the bad of the religion, it really made me think back to specific instances. For example, when Father Tom is asking Rayona very personal questions that he had no business asking, it crosses the line as to what a priest can ask someone. On the other hand, Father Hurlburt is there for Ida’s family when they are in need. This interesting because the priests almost play a “good cop, bad cop” role if you will. After reviewing this, with taking Isabella’s thoughts into consideration, I realized that I do agree with her about the speculation about Father Tom and Hurlburt. I agree with her thoughts on how Dorris represents the good and bad of the religion through the priest characters.
Nick Izzi discussed how the raft scene, involving Father Tom and Rayona, was left up in the air for the reader to consider. In reflecting about the raft scene I wonder if Dorris deliberately left that scene up to the reader’s interpretation. Why does Dorris do this? Could it be that the yellow raft has symbolic religious relevance? Nick mentioned this in the discussion, and it allowed the group to make that connection between religion and the title. I agree with Nick’s statement about how Dorris left that scene up to the reader. Dorris allows the reader to make any connection about what actually happens on the raft.
For the self assessment on the rubric I gave myself a 15.5 out of 16. In looking at the Speaking and Listening category I feel like I scored a four because I asked a number of questions that maintained the conversations flow. For example, I asked the following questions “Does anyone else have anything to add?”, “What do you think?”. Under the category of Textual evidence I also scored myself a four. Along with my annotations, I had four to five pages of information involving my discussion topic in my notebook. This also coincides with the preparation category in which I had four to five pages of textual evidence and quotes. When speaking I used textual evidence whenever providing input about a topic. Finally, in my leadership category, I gave myself a 3.5 out of four. I feel as though I played my part in moving along the conversation, but I was not the best leader. Isabella exemplified leadership by constantly moving the conversation forward.
Overall, I believe that the classes’ participation was very positive. Every person had at least one strong statement throughout the course of the Seminars. However, the class could have done a better job listening to the most interesting thing that their person said. I chose Massimo Feroce. He spoke many times during the discussion, made lots of eye contact, used a good amount of textual evidence, asked follow-up questions, responded to other speakers and paraphrased another speaker's ideas as well. Massimo gave a brief closing statement. However, one thing that he could have done better was to provide a better explanation as to what he announced in the group. For example, when he made his statement about Clara being upset. He did not have enough evidence to prove that she was truly sorry about the incident that occurred. The class comprehension and overall participation was exceptional.
Caroline Carbone
ReplyDeleteMrs. Colando
English 9 H
7 October 2016
Socratic Seminar Reflection
I thought Isabella Corso’s remark about Father Hurlburt representing a good figure of religion and Father Tom representing the bad within religion was very interesting because I never looked at that side of them in comparing the two. Also, I agree with this speculation because as seen in the story, Father Hurlburt is a very helpful and understanding person. Meanwhile, Father Tom is very nosey and always wants to know everything about everyone. Father Tom asks Rayona very specific questions and made her feel very uncomfortable. Until Isabella mentioned this I never realized all the difference in character traits between both Father Hurlburt and Father Tom.
To this day I am still questioning what occurred on the yellow raft in the lake at the park. This topic was somewhat left up in the air. Dorris never really comes out and says what happens on the raft. The only information we receive is a few clues on what occurred. Dorris writes something along the lines of “‘Rayona, we have committed a sin,’ said Father Tom.” This is a clue because we realize it has something to do with both Father Tom and Rayona, yet we are still doubtful of what actually happened on the yellow raft.
For my self assessment, using the socratic seminar rubric, I assessed myself as a fifteen out of sixteen. I scored myself a four in the category of “Speaking and Listening” since I continuously kept asking relative questions about moving the conversation along, “Any last thoughts on this topic?”. I also asked multiple questions regarding evidence. For example, when Nick Izzi made a statement about the title of the story I replied, “Do you have evidence to back this thought up?”. I scored myself a four in the category of “Using Textual Evidence” because in almost every thought or statement I suggested to the group I used evidence from the text to support my ideas and make my points. For example, to show that Father Hurlburt had a character trait of trustworthy I used the quote, “... he had gained a reputation for secrecy. … He forgot the sins he heard …”(Dorris, 311). Also, I scored myself a four in the category of “Preparation”. Along with annotating the book over the summer, I also tried to go more indepth and tried to relate more to my group’s question specifically. For the category of “Leadership” I scored myself with a four because I believe I helped move the conversation along and listened carefully and closely, reflecting upon what I have heard. I also believe I fully contributed in altering the direction of the conversation. I believe I altered the conversation’s direction and helped the conversation build because of my relevant thoughts and questions that led the group in another direction while staying on topic. I reflected on what I heard though questions about evidence and how the question relates to our discussion topic.
Overall, I believe the class was very interested in every topic of conversation and trying to relate others’ opinions to their own. From the middle circle’s perspective, for the most part the outer circle was very attentive and interested in the middle circle’s overall discussion. From the outer circle’s perspective, everyone in the inner circle was very respectful to one another. I do not recall anyone interrupting another or engaging in a side conversation, other than a few whispers. As a part of the outer circle I observed Sebastine Wall, and I could tell she was very prepared and understood her topic. She had some very interesting thoughts. Overall I believed everyone was well-prepared and respectful to one another.
Hagop Ayanyan
ReplyDeleteMrs. Colando
English 9 Honors
7 October 2016
Socratic Seminar Reflection
The Socratic Seminar was an interesting experience for me, in both the outer and inner circle. I enjoyed how in the outer circle I could listen to other people’s thoughts and ideas, and in the inner circle I was able to express my own. A specific idea I found interesting was the snowball idea where we talked about how when a group of people all believe in the same hateful thing and the belief spreads to other people, the power it develops brainwashes everyone to the point where it snowballs into a stereotype or automatic degrading belief towards a specific race, religion, or any idea or belief in general. I found this idea interesting because it applies to real life, and how people still have the power to create and carry out social injustices that are still prominent.
Vy brought up who to trust, as there were three different perspectives on the story. I often question who to trust,, even after the seminar, because I am still having trouble figuring out who to trust in the story. Ida is very secluded from the world, altering her views on reality, Christine is unloyal and cannot even trust herself, and Rayona generally tends to lie a lot. There are many factors going into who to trust in the story, and Dorris does a good job on keeping the three perspectives vague enough to make you decide who to trust on your own.
On the rubric, I scored myself a 4 on Speaking and Listening. I was confident in my voice and that I spoke clearly and closely listened to and answered other people’s questions. For instance, when Vy brought up the social injustice of women and what they had to face, I supported her point and also added that men can be discriminated against, too. I scored myself a 3 on Using Textual Evidence, because I did not back up all of my arguments with evidence, but I still used a good amount of evidence to support my ideas. I used evidence to prove that Rayona fought against sexism at the rodeo, and I used evidence to prove that Father Tom mentally fought discrimination of Christians. I also quoted here and there to support impromptu ideas. I scored myself a 3 on Preparation, because I felt I had a good amount of evidence, quotes and annotations at the ready in my notebook. I showed my understanding through my evidence, also. Lastly, I scored myself a 4 on leadership, because I felt very confident in my execution of keeping the conversation going and avoiding awkward silences at all costs. I linked many people’s ideas together (including my own) and asked questions often. I also brought up new ideas to talk about, while still respecting the topics everyone else was engrossed in.
For the most part, everyone participated in the Socratic Seminar. We made sure everyone was able to express their thoughts and ideas, and encouraged everyone to share new ideas and add on to other people’s. We got to a point where we had so much to say, we actually started talking at the same time so much it got to be an interruption a few times. It was nothing too disruptive, though. We even shared a laugh. Also, I noticed that Vy was well prepared with many quotes and evidence to support her claims. Overall, the Socratic Seminar was a great experience and everyone participated and listened to what others had to say, responded to questions, and added on to ideas to create new conversations.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth Marses
Mrs. Colando
English 9 Honors
7 October 2016
Socratic Seminar: Reflection
There were many specific issues that our group touched upon while in the inner circle. I found Kaitlyn’s speculation about the women being abrupt and saying whatever comes to their mind interesting because I always thought of the women as being independent, rather than abrupt. Although I had not thought of this idea, I completely agree with Kaitlyn because the women had much power and whatever they said went. Kailtyn’s connection made me realize that the women had a lot of power when it came to their actions, as well as the things that came out of their mouths.
During the socratic seminar there was a few unanswered question that I am still thinking about. I questioned Massimo's’ comment on how Clara was sorry for what she did to Lecon. Do you honestly believe that Clara feels bad about something she did? Doesn’t Clara seem to have similar actions as someone who holds grudges? This entire discussion was based off of women and how they are powerful, and I do not think a powerful woman would ever question, nor feel bad about what she did to someone. I do not agree with Massimo's’ statement. I needed him to cite specific evidence on what Clara did to show the reader she felt bad.
I scored myself with all 4’s on the socratic seminar rubric. I constantly asked questions in the discussion, such as who they thought was the toughest and most powerful women in the story. This shows that I had great leadership skills due to the fact that I keep the conversation moving and brought out relevant questions when appropriate. As a result of taking the leader role in the discussion, I game myself an “excellence’’ in the leadership category.
Due to the fact that this was our first socratic seminar, I believe that our classes overall behavior was excellent. Students were constantly taking notes and focusing on what the people in the inner circle were discussing. On the other hand, the people in the inner circle were well prepared with much textual evidence as well as all the answers asked in the question. For example while Caroline attended the inner circle she had a lot of textual evidence revolving around how Rayona doesn’t fit in easily, and almost everyone on the outer circle was taking careful notes. However, when Vy talked about how Rayona was self conscious about her race there was giggling and whispering occurring on the outer circle. There is plenty of time to talk in the inner circle, however it is inappropriate to take while attending the outer circle. I additionally observed Matt Perrotta. I realized he was involved in the conversation because he constantly asked questions, and made logical statements.
Sebastiane Wall
ReplyDeleteMrs. Colando
English 9 Honors
27 September 2016
A Yellow Raft in Blue Water Socratic Seminar Reflection
My class’ Socratic seminar on A Yellow Raft in Blue Water questions was very interesting. Many students had fascinating things to say, and I liked seeing how others interpreted certain aspects of the book. I have never participated in a Socratic seminar before, but I think it was an overall positive experience. I think the most interesting thing someone in my group added to the discussion was when Jordyn said flying was not mentioned in Ida’s part because she did not need to free herself from anything because I had this in my notes as well.
I still have some questions about certain things people have said during the socratic seminar. For example, in response to my group’s question, I am still a little unsure about why there is no mention of water in Ida’s part. I understand that Ida was not going through a period of change in her life, which is what water could potentially represent, however I still find it unclear.
In total, I scored myself as a 13 on the rubric. My reasoning for giving myself a 2.5 on the speaking and listening category is because I feel like I did not meet all of the requirements. Next Socratic seminar I will improve this score by asking more questions. Regarding textual evidence, I gave myself a 3.5 because I think I backed up my statements with proof from the story most times. Then, I scored myself at a 4 in preparation because I had a lot of evidence from book from taking notes, and I was ready for the seminar. Finally, I gave myself a 3 in leadership because I feel like I did a good job moving the conversation along, but I did not question other members in my group, so I will work on that.
In my opinion, my class did very well in our first Socratic seminar. For the most part, students equally participated, but sometimes people were quiter. For example, each person in the first group spoke relatively around the same number of times. This helped the flow of the conversation, and did not make it awkward. Also no one intentionally interrupted other members of their group, or acted inappropriately, so overall I think the class did really well. When I observed Jaci Scully, one of the most interesting things she said was, “Rayona was not trustworthy because she did not have anyone to trust.” I had not made this correlation before she mentioned it, but I agree with it because I do not think Rayona had a good example so she could know how to have this trait.
Talia Thibodeau
ReplyDeleteMrs. Colando
English 9 Honors
7 October 2016
A Yellow Raft in Blue Waters
During the socratic seminar I felt that my group had a good conservation on when women get their strength, how they differ from men and who has more power. During the discussion, we talked about who has more power and where the characters get it from. At one point, Kaitlyn
said how she thinks Ida has more power because she went through so much, which I agreed with. We also talked about who we thought had the hardest life to live. We based this on the main character’s life growing up, and how they’re coped with it. I disagreed with Elizabeth and Massimo when they said that they felt that Rayona had the hardest life out of Christine and Ida. Kaitlyn and I both thought Ida had the toughest life because she had to raise Christine and Lee by herself and never really had her own life growing up. She went straight from her teenage year to being an automatic mother. I found this very interesting because I thought that everyone in my group would agree that Ida had the toughest life growing up. I also thought it was interesting when we talked about how Ida was used to being alone and how she kind of blew off Willard when he left her.
After listening to all of the groups, I still have a few questions. I still wonder why the first group to present thought that Father Hurlburt wasn’t an outsider. I believe he was an outsider, but gained everybody's trust. Also, when the fifth group presented, I would ask why they thought Ida’s section was the most important when it could have easily been Rayona’s or Christine’s.
When looking at the rubric I would give myself a 4 in Speaking and Listening, I thought that when someone was talking I gave my full attention and I spoke quite often in the group discussion. I would give myself a 3 in using Textual Evidence. I did use some evidence, but I know I definitely could have used more. I would give myself a 3 in preparation. I have notes, annotations and notes, but I think I could have used more than I did by having more questions and comments. Lastly, I would give myself a 2 in Leadership. In the conversation, I did not want to overpower in the group or interrupt everybody else when they were talking, so I find myself holding back in most situations.
I feel like this assignment made everyone more aware of the book, and during each presentation, the outside circle, paid attention to all of the speakers in the groups. They listened when someone was talking, and offered their comments when the discussion was over. I felt everyone was very involved overall.
Jaime Forte
ReplyDeleteMrs. Colando
English 9 Honors
7 October 2016
Socratic Seminar Reflection
In the Socratic Seminar, I had Group 3 that focused on the symbolism of rain and flying in Christine and Rayona’s story. I thought it was interesting when Jordyn P said that rain in A Yellow Raft in Blue Water meant hopelessness instead of just meaning “sad”. It took the meaning a step further and she made it a little more personal to the characters as opposed to just giving a general meaning. I agree with her on this idea because whenever it rained in the book, the characters had feelings of being lost or on the verge of just giving up all together. Something else I found interesting was when Nich Izzi said that Rayona and Father Tom were alike because they were both bullied for being different. I agree with this statement because The God Squad was teaching him false words in their Native American language and they made fun of Rayona for being half black.
During the Socratic Seminar, all of the groups had excellent ideas and theories with much textual evidence. As a result, I do not have any unanswered questions. However, I have some things I disagree with. For example, Jaci Scully said that Ida is only trustworthy to the people for whom she keeping secrets. It works in theory, but it would make her extremely untrustworthy to everyone she is keeping secrets from. In my opinion, this would make her the least trustworthy, and not Rayona (which was the original argument).
I gave myself a four in “Leadership” because I moved the topic along while also bringing up new and different points. When Jordyn talked about how the images of planes didn’t show up in Ida’s story it was because she accepted the life she was given and did not dream of getting away from it. I then brought up the idea that Ida thought it was her responsibility to take care of Christine and that is the reason she never left the reservation. I also brought up a key idea while listening closely to what she had to say. Another score I gave myself was a three in “Textual Evidence” because I personally felt like I could have quoted from the book more as I mostly elaborated on other people’s new questions rather than making my own.
Out of our class, I think that Nicole P was extremely prepared and I can recall she spoke a lot and she used much textual evidence, like when she was explaining how Rayona wanted to be Ellen because Ellen was everything Rayona wanted to be. Nicole spoke about fifteen times in the span of twenty minutes and referred to the novel many times as well. She also encouraged people to speak about last minute things or when a topic was about to change and made good eye-contact. As for the outer circle, I do not remember anyone having side conversations or being disrespectful to anyone in the inner circle. In conclusion, the whole class brought up interesting perspectives I had not previously thought of.
Isabella Lepre
ReplyDeleteMrs. Colando
English
6 October, 2016
My group was six , and it was about the Indian reservation, lifestyles and attitudes, what braiding really means, what will happen to the three women in the future and why the author ended his work where he did. In lifestyles and attitudes, there is a similarity between braiding as well. I would have added in how all there personalities and differences combined and made one big story. I liked what Nicole said about her definition of braiding being all sections of a greater story coming together. I think there lifestyles and attitudes really contribute to the braiding because without them, it would not have made the story unique as it is. I also found it interesting when in the circle they all agreed on Ida telling Christine that she's not her real daughter. I personally don't think Ida will say anything because she doesn't want Christine to be in any more pain than she is, and she is not the type of person to tell her big secrets. Questions I still have are of course what kind of people they will all turn out to be in the future but that question can never be answered. I graded myself excellent in listening and speaking because I managed to get all my points across and listened and soaked in a lot of what my classmates said. All my classmates had a lot to say and most of my questions were all answered and understandable.