Session 1: Make Discussions Matter! by Jason Flanagan

• Presentation is online.
• Better yet, so is his assessment template.
• Started out weak. I come to sessions to be wowed. This started with “Here, read this.”
• Underlying concept is great. He uses a custom Google Sheet to objectively assess student led conversation and show the results in chart and pressure gauge form.
• I could do something similar with Class Dojo, but the data would not be presented in the same way. Which you pick would depend on how you want to use the data. Given the choice between the two, I’d probably pick this form.
• “Greatest motivator for students is grades.” A teacher walked out after the presenter said this. The presenter has not seen my classroom.
• Apparently he teaches an Honors class. I suppose in his environment grades are a powerful motivator, but I still assert that it is a hollow motivation, at best.