Well, while reading the text Talk Move Number five brought up different emotions as well and wanted to comment and both Dean and Shannon's points because I found them very interesting. The wait time is something that I have spent time thinking about if I like this idea or not. In theory, it would allow the students to think about the questions and formulate an answer. Like Shannon was saying that students are not always able to think of the answer then the entire class is sitting waiting for the person to come up with the answer. This can be embarrassing or even degrading to the student. On the other side. there has been times when I know the answer however needed time to think about the wording or how I want to put together the answer. Like Dean was saying it can create some good dialogue and classroom discussions. What I have concluded is that it is important for the teacher to give the students time to think and formulate answers however not wait too long so the student feels stupid.
The Talk Move that stuck out to me was Talk Move Number 3, having students apply their own reasoning to someone else. I believe that this is very important to almost every subject and in life. One I think having students agree or disagree with other people means that students need to stand what for what they are thinking. I am finding that too many students do not speak their mind because they are afaird of what other people will think. If we can create a classroom environment in which students feel safe to share their opinions. The students will find they enjoy learning if they know they don't always have to be correct and people are not going to judge them. With that being said, the students need to learn the correct wordage on how to disagree with the persons answers or thoughts without putting down the person themselves. This will help promote the safe learning environment!
Another reason why I think this is so important in the classroom is because it does not just have the students giving answers they have to say their reasoning. I think critical thinking or explaining is the most important part of learning. Inorder for someone to say they have fully learned something, they need to be able to explain it in details. For instance, in math in my classroom L.L. gave the answer 20 however G.R. said the answer was 32. While G.R. was correct, I had her explain why she thought the answer was different from L.L. Not only did L.L. find her mistake, G.R. had to make sure she understood it herself. My teaching after this point was done because of G.R. explanation.
Megan,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your blog! You brought up a lot of points that resonate within me. Creating a comfortable classroom environment is very important. Building the trust among your students from the very beginning of the year will help students to open up without fear or criticism.
One super important thing that I thought of when I read your blog is the part about defending your answers and comparing them to other students. While I think that this is a beneficial move, I also think it needs to be done carefully. The environment needs to be there where the students understand how to state their claims without making other students feel dejected or that their statement or reasoning is wrong. Students have to be sympathetic to others opinions and be able create positions without degrading the other student. Like you discussed in your blog, correct use of words will help create a safe environment where students don’t feel like they are being attacked by the other student.
I agree with you when you discuss the importance of explaining what you have. Defending your answer to something will not only reinforce the concept, it might change your mind about it, you might realize your mistake and you are also giving other students the chance to connect with you. If they made the same mistake, they will see that in the other students mistake. Or if the student got the answer correct and they explain themselves, this might teach another student why the answer was correct and reinforce that students answer or help them understand the correct answer.
I enjoyed reading your perspective on talk moves!
~Shannon