EdCafe Review

                Overall I thought the EdCafe model worked well for discussion.  I enjoyed talking with my peers in a smaller group.  I felt more comfortable to speak up and I believe others did too.  The discussion felt natural, rather than awkward and forced.  I think with the EdCafe model you get more out of presenting than attending.  To present you have to understand your topic.  Sometimes it may require research or searching for primary source images.  To develop really good questions and keep the discussion moving you really need to become an expert on your topic.  With attending however, you may know the topic but do not know the questions.  I felt somewhat unprepared since we did not prepare any notes or highlights as attendees.  The one main thing we should work on improving is the variation of topics.  Most of the group all discussed similar questions which became boring very quickly.

                I personally enjoyed presenting.  I always enjoy leading and presenting.  It felt very easy and was not at all daunting since the groups were so small.  I think I did well talking and keeping the discussion going.  If people did not understand a question, I would repeat it and explain it.  I also would fill in with some guiding thoughts if I sensed a lull or would suggest we move on to a new question.  Also, providing previously researched pictures was a benefit.  Our group’s topic was family (“Bonded to Family”) and I showed everyone a picture of a slave family that really connected to our questions.  Next time I want to improve providing some key notes for attendees.  Most groups were writing the main ideas of what they were saying on their board and I wish I had done the same.  It seemed to really help attendees keep track of the discussion.  Finally, I wish I had paced our discussion better.  We spent a long time on each question and were unable to get to some of the other more interesting questions. 

                As an attendee I tried to participate as often as possible.  I tried to share lots of thoughts and opinions, but I also tried not to monopolize the discussion so others could share as well.  When we discussed why slave owners tried to get runaway slaves back I brought up that besides just money, slave owners wanted to have power over the slaves.  To them slaves were very far below them socially and were a piece of property.  For pride and power they did not want to let them run away; especially in the case of the Harriet Jacobs narrative.  In another discussion I shared that family would be a primary motivation not to commit suicide because of the feeling of responsibility to care for your family.  These were a few of my favorite ideas I shared in the discussions that I think helped to also get others to share similar ideas and thoughts.  As an attendee I also tried to take as many notes as possible.  If the leaders wrote down any ideas or notes I would also write those down.  I also tried to write down the question and then all the ideas discussed below the question.  It was sometimes hard to take notes if you were speaking.  I felt I never really had a chance to actually write down my own thoughts, but I wrote down everything that everyone else said.  Also, I always wrote down our group’s takeaway at the end.  I believe my notes are a fairly accurate representation of what I learned.  The EdCafe model for discussion is an interesting and new way to share thoughts and ideas.