The 4 Verbs
by Karen Jolly, Professor of History, UH Mānoa
The four verbs used to describe the SIZ furniture captured my imagination for accomplishing this task:
Everyone should rise out of their seats at least once during the class session, leave their comfort zone, and engage with other perspectives. Hedges are places where students talk over the fence, across different views, to work out problems and share ideas. Lingering means sometimes staying on one idea for a while, sitting back and figuring out where it goes. Scooch is my favorite:
”come over here, join with me, and see what we can make of this idea or text.”
All of these verbs apply not only to the daily discussion of the assignments, but also to writing as a process of thinking. Writing on the walls and windows, in my past experience, really helps break down the barriers to formulating ideas and structuring one’s thoughts: students can draw, diagram, outline, mind-map, and collaborate with each other to find the words to build sentences into arguments. Moving around the room to interact with these creations on the wall has been one of the most successful strategies I have used in these rooms.