Alopi M. Colt B. Nathan B. Daniel S. Tori J. Rob G. Zalia M. Nathan T. Avery W. & Lindsey D.

 With a pre-assigned preliminary activity, students produce three to five individualized, open-ended questions that may be focused by the teacher’s instructions or student choice.  During the next class meeting, students form a circle so everyone can see everyone else. One student opens with a pre-written question. Other students add their comments, trying never to repeat the thoughts of a previous speaker, only amplifying or shifting the course of the conversation, while maintaining its focus within the confines of the question.  Once the seminar has begun, we will stop and reflect during the process. The reflection could be on something that the students did well, a transition, a point where the discussion was heated up/ died down.  When conversation lulls, a new student asks a question.  The key to this method’s success is that it is entirely student-led. The teacher does not say anything unless, like the students, the teacher is moved by the arc of the discussion to contribute, but always on par with the students.

 If people cannot speak due to fear, this will not be a good class. We respect the inherent dignity of every person in this classroom by fostering critical thinking as a means to autonomous agency.  Your right to be right does not exceed anyone else’s right to be heard.

 The novel is told from the perspective of four sisters and the mother of the Price family, who are Missionaries in the Congo. Nathan Price, husband and father, is determined to bring the civilization of the west and Jesus Christ to save the people of the Congo, but when the family arrives they quickly find that the Congolese culture is more advanced than they first thought. Western ways are first found inadequate when Nathan tries to plant a garden, only to realize that there is nothing to pollinate the plants. Similar problems escalade, pulling the family deeper into the village. When the Congo declares its independence and all of the missionaries leave, Nathan declares his job unfinished and holds his family in the country without their consultation. Soon after the chief of the village, fearing that Christianity will cause the moral decline of his people, calls a vote, and the people vote Jesus out. Soon after a fight amongst the adults in the village culminates in a death of one of the four Price daughters, finally catalyzing Orleanna Price, the mother, to leave her husband with her three remaining children and return to where they used to call home.

Student-Run Socratic Seminar

 A= you spoke twice (regardless of quality of your comments)  C= you spoke once (regardless of the quality of your comments)  F= you spoke never (even if it was a high- quality never)

 After the preliminary grading scale we started to use a grading scale that graded quality and not quantity, because while it’s great that everyone has something to contribute to the conversation it’s even better to have something meaningful to think about.  The secondary grading scale scores for links and support

 A= You supported your valid point with a quotation from the text in question.  B= You supported your valid point with paraphrase from other classes, movies, T.V., etc.  C= You asked a question or made an unsupported point.  D= You spoke, but were confusing, short or irrelevant.  0= You did not speak, even when prompted.