
Session
10: Seam Summer Science Institute
How to "Spin" the Warm Up in Class
1. Be positive, not
critical
2. Show a graded mixture
of 'the good, the bad & the ugly'. Incomplete answers are great
discussion starters.
3. Specifics for the
previous example:
- "This makes sense, but it is missing
something...."
- "This is all true, but what if something
else occurs simultaneously...."
- "This is correct, but for the reason
isn't quite right...."
- "This is a great response...."
4. Other useful phrases:
- "This has a great beginning, but there is
more that could be added...."
- "This is a great answer, but to a
different question...."
- "This is the right idea, but I think the
person meant something slightly different here...."
5. Ask students to extend
answers
- Ask the class "What
part of this is completely correct."
- Ask the class "Under
what circumstances would these be correct?"
- Ask the class "What
word or two could be changed to fix this completely?"
- Ask the class "What
is particularly good about this response?
6. Ask students to expand
questions
- Ask the class "Is
this true for other cases? Which?"
- Ask the class "When
is this statement false? What happens then?"
- Ask the class "Is
this similar to something we have done before? What?"
7. Ask students
to compare responses of "Dueling Answers"
- Two very different
answers, not obviously exclusive:
Ask if they are exclusive
- Two obviously exclusive
answers:
Ask for a vote on which is correct
Do some analysis
Repeat as needed
8. Ask, ask,
ask!!
-- thanks to Andy Gavrin for these useful tips!