How do you have a successful whole class discussion with 30+
students? The secret is to keep them moving and, of course, having a killer
topic to discuss. The latest format I have found that works well combines the
fishbowl, jigsaw, and Socratic discussion. I call this one Hot Seat Two. I have
already written about my hot seat discussions, thus the “two.”

For this discussion I started with the topic, “Is there a
natural law or a divine law that dictates the predominance of one group of
people over another?” In U.S. History we explore such topics while studying the
Gilded Age.

To prepare for the discussion each student must use two
sources and find at least five relevant and unique quotes from each source. My
students are in teams of five to six students. No member of a team allowed to
use sources chosen by any other team member. When all research is completed,
team resources are combined for a total of at least ten sources and fifty
quotes. The team members then share and discuss their individual work and share
their ideas about how the information might help answer the essential question.

On the day of the discussion desks are arranged in a big
circle like a fishbowl with all team members side by side, but with only one
seat in the inner circle for each team. Team members in the inner circle are
each given two opportunities in a random jigsaw manner to present two arguments
supported by evidence, or to respond to another student with more or
conflicting evidence. No one has to speak, and the discussion order is random.
Students did get points for speaking and none for silence. As soon as the round
is over, another teammate takes the hot seat and the discussion continues.
Between discussion sessions I give about a minute for team members to discuss
what the next speaker might wish to contribute. These team discussions are
short but animated.

Each round goes quickly, about five minutes. I have each new
speaker come from the right hand  seat
from the team’s outer circle and have everyone move over one seat to the right.
This, and the one minute reviews, relieves the boredom of sitting for a long
time. The standing and sitting actually encourage team discussion. Short
sessions and moving around keep the discussion fresh and lively. In a long
block everyone gets to join the discussion at least twice, and everyone stays
engaged.

Here are a few typical responses from students’ Friday
Feedback.

“The thing I liked the most is that everyone got an
opportunity to speak during the discussion and no one dominated.”

“Everyone brought up important subjects that we found on our
own and the discussion was productive.”

“I liked hearing everybody’s different perspectives and
gaining new ideas from them. I liked that I was able to have more perspectives
because of this discussion.”

“Whenever I had something to add but wasn’t in the hot seat
I couldn’t. I suggest adding an empty hot seat to the circle that anyone can
jump in.”

“I don’t like class discussions because I’m shy but I think
it worked really well.”

The only negative responses were about not having enough
time to talk more. I think the key factor for the positive responses was the
movement. Complaints in past discussions involved too much sitting and
disengagement through lack of participation. Being able to move and talk about
ideas between each round of discussion keeps the blood flowing and makes
everyone feel more involved. Try a Hot Seat Two and see if it works well for
you.