Today was book club day! Honestly, I was apprehensive about having this particular assignment right after "spring" break, but overall I think it went really well. Everyone in my book club group did a great job, both in preparing the story for which they were "hosts," as well as in participating in all of the book club discussions. There did not seem to be anyone who was "checked out" or not engaging in the conversation. The one thing I felt did not go so well were some of the questions that required deep understanding of the text or the background of the text, without any sort of "warm up" questions or factual grounding. Since we split our discussion amongst five different pieces, it was difficult for me to remember each story at the level of detail necessary to fully answer some of the hosts' questions. Perhaps anchoring people in the text first (with factual questions, or even just reminding them "this is what the author says") could help move the conversation along.
From a host's perspective, I was really surprised at how quickly 30 minutes can elapse. We ended up speeding through the second half of our article because there was so much discussion happening. Although I really wanted to give equal weight to all parts of the article, I also did not want to interrupt the conversation. It was satisfying to know that an article we chose or a question we asked generated genuine discussion - it was not at all like "pulling teeth" to get people to talk, as I was more prepared to do. All in all, I think allowing the conversation to develop naturally was more important than pushing our hosting agenda, so I was more than happy to allow people to chat away. It is like a delicate balance between allowing the conversation to develop organically and helping participants stay "on task" to accomplish the goals of the book club. At least for our article discussion's focus on "professional development," I think it's better to err on the side of allowing "too much" discussion and letting people have a chance to talk about their concerns or experiences, rather than interrupting the flow of conversation.
It was a little strange not being together as a class - I hope everyone had equally enjoyable discussions!
I was also surprised by how fast 30 minutes can go. Our group had a lot of great discussion, and I felt like in order to get through all of our questions, we would need another 30 minutes. When our turn was over and we were answering questions from the other readings, I felt like time went by even faster. Everyone had so much to talk about, and sometimes I felt like we needed more time to get through everything.
ReplyDeleteI'm part of the group that has their book club this coming Monday, but I have heard that it was a fun experience overall. I bet it is hard to keep the book club on track, especially when, as you say, the discussion gets bogged down in one particular area. I'm looking forward to hearing what others have to say about the stories I read.
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