Day 13: Talking like a University Professor? Academic Speak

Having good conversations are a part of being a great leader. In short, be a leader!

Discussion Question: How do I start and sustain thoughtful conversation?

PowerPoint Presentation: Academic Conversations

8 Tips for Speaking and Listening

1 Model a Good Conversation. ...

2 Encourage Physical Cues. ...

3 Challenge Put-Downs or Hurtful Comments. ...

4 Ask Open-Ended Questions. ...

5 Put Thinking Ahead of Knowing. ...

6 Have Informal Chats. ...

7 Make Eye Contact. ...

8 Encourage Turn-Taking.

Tools
Conversation and Topic Question Map 
My Talk About Card

An example of having thoughtful conversations in two disciplines

LANGUAGE ARTS 

A: What do you think the author’s message is?

B: Well I don’t think it was fair that the principal changed the rules about the jacket, you    
      know, to pay for it. A: Me too, but what was the lesson from the story? B: Maybe it was to stand up for what is right. A: Can you elaborate on that? B: Well, she was sad at first and then talked to her grandpa who told her he could pay, but wouldn’t. Maybe this helped her see that it would be, like, wrong to just give in and pay. What do you think? A: Yes, I agree. I think Martha changed cuz maybe at first, if she had the money, she would’ve paid. But, however, her grandfather made her think and show the school people that they were wrong. B: So how can we apply this to our life? A: Maybe we can make sure bullies at school don’t get away with bullying. B: And maybe it has to do with racism, like we talked about in class, how people bully people based on their skin color, like we saw in history class. A: How do we stop racism, though? B: May be study really hard to be lawyers. A: OK, how can we sum this up? B: We can say that the author wanted to teach us to stick up for what is right, even when more powerful people change the rules; and we should study more. 

HISTORY 

A: Why did the author write this?
B: To tell us about the Boston Massacre. But what I don’t get was why it was called a massacre if only 7 people were killed. A: Can you elaborate?
B: Well, the people weren’t so famous, and a massacre usually means lots of people die.
A: Maybe the people reporting it wanted to make it sound really bad.
B: Maybe they wanted to get people all mad in order to rebel, like, to start the Revolution. At that time, not everyone wanted to rebel.
A: Oh like the teacher said, a lot of times the newspapers—I don’t think they had radio or T.V. back then—would make up stuff...
B: You mean exaggerate?
A: Yeah, they would exaggerate things or focus on things or not print things to influence people.
B: So calling it a massacre made the English look really evil? A: Maybe. How about today? How can we apply these ideas to today?
B: Like,in commercials they only talk about good parts.And reporting on the war in Iraq might be biased, depending on the source.
A: But why?
B: Maybe to influence voters to vote to get troops out.
A: So we need to remember that words can be biased?
B: Yeah, how history is reported can make a big difference. 

Housekeeping: Peer Review Draft of final paper due on Day 14; students will be working in small peer groups to read papers and give input. Teacher will supply the peer feedback forms.