Esther Ohito
Bio
Questions about effective teaching and learning have been at the core of Esther O. Ohito’s work for the last dozen years. Esther has engaged with this work in various roles—first in her capacity as a National Board Certified English Language Arts middle school teacher in Chicago, Illinois, then as a teacher educator for pre-service and beginning teachers with The University of Chicago and Teachers College, Columbia University, and now as a doctoral fellow with a focus on curriculum studies and teacher education also at Teachers College, Columbia University. Esther is excited by the opportunity to learn from others while contributing as an individual and as part of a collective towards the attainment of a just global society; one that enables teachers to support students—particularly those most marginalized—in learning and leading healthy lives in and beyond classrooms and schools.Locations
Johannesburg 1 Johannesburg 2 Jane Furse Singita Nelspruit Swaziland Durban East London Cape TownLike Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., ‘I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits.’ Dr. King’s words capture the nexus of my personal and professional existences, which is a commitment to social justice ideals and the notion that each human being is inherently deserving of legal and social rights and responsibilities, as well as equitable access to opportunities that may improve the quality of one’s life.
Workshops
Socratic Seminar for the 21st Century Learner: Using Technology to Deepen Discussion and Dialogue
Greek philosopher Socrates argued that, “the unexamined life is not worth living.” Others might contend that the unexamined text is not worth reading (or—to put it differently—such a text becomes infinitely more interesting after discussion!) Therefore, it is with much excitement that this workshop focuses on Socratic Seminar as a teaching strategy to enhance student engagement and learning through discussion and dialogue. Socratic Seminar is a discussion structure that is intended to set the stage for a critical analysis of a shared text, with the belief that collaborative questioning and examination of this text is generative for all participants’ learning. The activities before, during, and after the discussion support participants in constructing and questioning meaning, and in developing and enhancing close reading, active listening, and critical thinking and reflection skills. Technology is an especially useful tool in moving towards these goals. This workshop will allow you to learn about and engage in Socratic Seminar, and then to integrate technology through the Collaborize Classroom platform in order to successfully deepen your students’ participation, learning about, and examination of any text or topic.
Talk, Texts, and Tech: Literature Circles for the 21st Century Learner
Our students naturally enjoy the social aspects of school. Literature circles are an ideal teaching strategy to build on this strength by promoting critical thinking and reading comprehension skills in readers. A literature circle is a reading activity consisting of a small group of students, each of whom has been assigned a particular role. They come together to explore, discuss, and analyze a text. The cooperative setting of this approach offers students the choices and voice they are so eager to have in school. This workshop will prepare you to both understand and successfully implement literature circles in your classroom, and to integrate technology into those circles to enhance learning. Literature circles can be particularly useful in classrooms because they place students “in charge of leading their own discussions as well as making decisions for themselves,” according to Claudia Peralta-Nash and Julie A. Dutch, authors of Literature Circles: Creating an Environment of Choice. By preparing for and engaging in meaningful and intellectually stimulating discussions, your students will become more independent and comfortable with oral self-expression. They will also gain the ability to think and write critically about a wide range of reading materials, all while having fun! This workshop will allow you to learn about Literature Circles. Then, through interactive activities, you will also learn how to utilize technology via the Collaborize Classroom platform in order to successfully to deepen your students’ participation in and learning from such discussion groups.