Investigating Bloom's Taxonomy

Reflection

The students in my class regularly access all levels of Bloom’s taxonomy, and they do so consciously. I specifically teach the various levels of understanding found in Bloom’s taxonomy, and my students are asked to identify the specifically skills we are using each day. One particular lesson format I like to use is Socratic Seminars. Students pair Bloom’s taxonomy with Costa’s levels of questioning, and they create higher level thinking questions for our class discussion. The questions they prepare lead the students in an authentic discussion about a particular text they are given. Within the discussions, students deconstruct the text to gather meaning, they compare classic texts to the modern world, and they critique the over all work of the author. The nature of a Socratic Seminar allows students to be both the participant and the observer. As on observer, my students are engaged in the lower order thinking skills. This gives students more time to process the information discussed, before they are asked to individually evaluate the lesson.

While I feel I am pretty good about incorporating Bloom’s revised taxonomy, incorporating the digital Bloom’s taxonomy is an area where I continue to look for ways to grow. The last time my class held a Socratic Seminar, I decided to incorporate some of the digital aspect. Usually the outer circle (the observers), takes notes on feedback for the inner circle (the discussers) during the discussion. This allows the outer circle to be an active participant without having a voice in the conversation. I found that many of my students find it hard to observe a conversation without being able to put in their two cents. In order to give the outer circle a voice without disrupting the flow of the inner circle’s conversation, I decided to give the outer circle access to an on-line chat room. In the chat room, I was able to as the outer circle their opinions about the conversation they were observing and they were able to build on each other’s comments. The students responded to this format favorably and their feedback was more specific and helpful.

After the two groups have had time to discuss, the students then fill out a self-evaluation about the Socratic Seminar and the new knowledge they gained from the discussion. Usually this is done in the form of a worksheet and paragraph. Perhaps in the future, I can have the students blog about their experience instead.