Honors Humanities 12

Discussion Guidelines

We will be spending A LOT of our class time this year engaged in discussion. Our colleagues are often our best resource in making sense of a challenging passage or refining a complex idea. Sometimes that work is tricky, so here are some guidelines we will follow in our discussions, both verbal and written:

Be respectful. I know y'all know this one by now, and you're thinking "of course, I would never be disrespectful to anyone," and you're right-- you probably wouldn't on purpose. Most instances of disrespect I've seen as a teacher end up being a result of someone not realizing that their phrasing, their tone, or their assumptions might impact others differently than themselves. Before you say or post anything, take 10 seconds to think about the people in the room and remember just how little we truly know about the scope of people's lives and experiences. If you have any doubts about how your comment might hit someone, don't make it. If you need help rephrasing or reframing, I am always here to help with that.
Talk about the text. Words are powerful because they are lenses through which we can examine experience without the immediacy or rawness that can come with examining our own. Try to return to the text we are discussing as often as possible. Root your ideas and questions in the language on the page, and we will be able to have much more expansive conversation.
Monitor your airtime. Some of us are verbal processors, meaning we think by talking out loud. Others need a lot of quiet time to process. Some are comfortable sharing thoughts as they come, while others will only share once they've refined their ideas in their head. All of these are perfectly acceptable ways to engage in a discussion, but also keep in mind that discussion are a group effort, and everyone deserves a chance to participate in their own way. If you tend to talk a lot, try to limit some of your comments. If you don't have much to share, offer encouragement or validation to those who are carrying the discussion forward. If you're timid about your ideas, think about and ask for what will help you feel safe enough to speak out in this space. In the best, most fruitful discussion, everyone acts as facilitator.
There are no right answers; there are wrong answers and better answers. You'll likely hear me say this a lot, because in the humanities, I have found it to be true and soothing. For the kinds of questions we'll be asking in discussions, the best answers are not those that "sound right;" the best answers are those that are based in evidence and shaded by nuance. We almost always arrive at better answers by starting with wrong answers. Figuring out what's wrong about them is what helps us make them better. I encourage you not to worry so much about whether a response you share is right or wrong. Instead, remember that we are all here together to help each other make our responses better.