Teaching Depth and Complexity.

Recently we had a seminar at my school about what makes someone an expert on a given topic. We discussed the theories of depth and complexity and Sandra Kaplan's 11 points that help someone become an expert on a topic. It starts as a reader or seeker looking more deeply into a text or resource...

As a reader, I already like to ponder my texts and make connections to other disciplines, so this was right up my alley. This seminar really grabbed my attention because I am already innately doing some of the things we learned about. The seminar put terms to my practices and icons and ideas to my toolbag as a teacher.

Here are her points. (Below) So before reading a book to my students I could ask, 'what are some of the different points of view (point #11: different perspectives) you hear in this story?' and it gets them thinking more deeply about the story and the characters. Here's a worksheet about it:



Or you can look more closely at the worksheet on this site:

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/4872391/Depth--Complexity-Icon-Chart

Anyway, I thought this lesson was really great and I am excited to incorporate it into my teaching.

One of the exercises we did in the seminar was to talk about areas where we consider ourselves to be experts of sorts. I talked about singing. What is an area where YOU think you're an expert?