Discussion Questions

In preparation for our discussions together, I ask you two email me two discussion questions the night before our class meetings. These questions are not basic requests for more information (e.g. “what’s the population of Chicago?”) nor are they invitations to summarize the reading (e.g. “what is the main point of the chapter we just read?”). Instead they are your opportunity to ask big, open-ended questions that you might truly be wondering about. After doing the reading, what questions are you left with? What would you like to ask your classmates?

A few example questions, based on the first chapter from How Children Succeed --

What surprised you in this chapter?

Reflecting back on your experiences in high school, do you think intellectual learning or social learning was more important to you? Did you see them as separate before you read this chapter?

Please send all your discussion questions by midnight the night before our class meeting. Of course, as always, I’m not trying to make you stay up until midnight -- in fact, I’m trying to give you as much time as possible, and I highly recommend you get the reading done early and go to sleep! I tend to believe that getting some good sleep helps many situations.