ROE 51 Fall Forum

# ROE 51 Fall Forum Training Summary

• Steve Founders taught the Teach Different conversation method (quote → claim → counterclaim → essential question) to approximately 70 K–12 educators in a 40-minute session, explaining it emerged from his 2018 breakthrough with a struggling Chicago class after a student shared trauma about his father's murder.

• Teachers analyzed the Ella Fitzgerald quote "It isn't where you come from, it's where you're going that counts" by articulating claims (past doesn't limit future, motivation to overcome), counterclaims (privilege matters, zip code predicts outcomes, solid upbringing helps), and wondered about control, what propels people to overcome obstacles, and how background affects relationships.

• The most notable moment came when a teacher challenged the quote as privileged, shifting the conversation to acknowledge both personal agency and structural barriers like zip codes that predetermine life outcomes.

• Steve shared that Illinois Senator Laura Murphy advocated for state funding through the Department of Human Services (viewing these conversations as mental health/SEL work), the method now has state subsidies for school workshops, and teachers can lead conversations after modeling, with typical duration 5–30 minutes.

• Questions focused on managing charged debates (suggestion: separate claim/counterclaim days initially), seating arrangements (circles preferred but adaptable), elementary application, essential questions emerging from claim/counterclaim tension, and how students generate philosophical questions from personal experience.

**GIST:** Teachers learned a four-move conversation method using quotes to build claim/counterclaim thinking and essential questions, promoting student voice and SEL through structured philosophical dialogue.

**START:** "Okay, I believe if we didn't really have 40 minutes, we would be"

**END:** "I will not miss you. For an elementary teacher. Hey, grab one for elementary."

It’s a simple framework that has so many potential applications.

We currently do “quick quote writes” in our journals, but this model will take it off the page and open it up to a conversation as well.