Response to Em's Comments

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In retrospect, this section is somewhat confusing. I think that by adding a bit more detail as to how students commented on each other's posts would make a lot of sense to someone who was not there to see it. Here is what I am thinking... the original states:

• "Upon making this list, each group starred one idea to focus upon to develop the author’s perspective of that recurring idea. Once the recurring ideas were posted on the group’s thread, each group replied to this thread in order to begin their development of the author’s point of view, and then to develop their statement of theme to match this perspective. This development of theme was tracked on the group’s thread, and once groups completed their work, it became public through their posting in the thread."

Instead, I can state:

• "Upon making this list, each group starred one idea to focus upon to develop the author’s perspective of that recurring idea. Once the recurring ideas were posted on the group’s thread, each group collaborated to develop the author’s point of view about this recurring idea. The collaboration continued as the group worked together to develop their statement of theme to match this perspective. This development of theme was tracked through each group’s posts, with each response becoming a thread within the group's discussion. Through posting their responses, each group's work became public on the class discussion board."

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The feedback I got definitely gave me areas to think about for utilizing this tool in the future. Some students wanted an opportunity to practice the skills of posting on threaded discussions a bit more before this activity, and other students asked for an opportunity AFTER this activity to reply to each other individually through homework postings and responses. I really liked this suggestion, and as we finished the book, students posted themes and commented on them to make them better and to find support with each reading. It was a great suggestion, and one that I will continue to implement in the future. I really think that it is important to get student feedback to see how the experience was for them in order to improve upon any activity in the future.

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In the control lesson, I used worksheets with graphic organizers, and students worked in groups to write down each section of the theme development on their sheet. In having them do this beforehand, they were a little bit more aware of what the process of theme development was; however, the whole process was much more organized, coherent and collaborative when implementing the Discussion Board.