I have always imagined myself to be the type of teacher that incorporated discussion into the classroom whenever possible. I loved the classes (although there were very few of them) that allowed students to think out loud and bounce ideas off of their peers. To me, this is one of the best ways to learn. I must admit, though, that the idea of students becoming comfortable in a discussion and expressing their ideas can be a little bit scary. Not because I am afraid of what they will say, exactly, but because I have learned the importance of keeping students on task and focused throughout a lesson. From my experience in field over the past couple of years, I have seen how excited students get during a discussion. They are able to share their own experiences and make connections to their life outside of the classroom more freely when they are discussing a topic rather than being spoken to about a topic. However, students (especially in the lower grades) tend to get off task and go on rather long tangents when they become more comfortable speaking. Personally, I think that a lot of good ideas come from these "tangents", and as a facilitator of discussion, a teacher must help to point out the ideas within a student's response and help others to make connections to what their peers are saying. However, kids do say "the darndest things", and maintaining a balance between allowing students to discuss and keeping them on track is a challenge that I think will take a great deal of practice... and patience.
Reading Chapter Ten of Weinstein's Elementary Classroom Management really helped me to feel less anxious about facilitating discussions. What I found most helpful is the practical tips that were outlined for both recitations and discussions. I think that the portion on discussion tips is really relevant for lower elementary classrooms. I do not remember having any type of discussion until high school, so I want to make sure this is incorporated at an earlier age. One of the teachers mentioned in the text points out that "it takes time to learn how to participate in a discussion, and it's not easy to break out of the teacher-dominated interaction pattern so characteristic of classrooms". I think that if we start teaching students how to have an effective discussion earlier, they will be able to engage in this type of learning for a longer amount of time, which will help make meaningful connections before a high school setting.
The tips in the chapter make this seem possible. First, it mentions carefully planning a discussion question. Giving the students a jumping off point is critical to good discussion. Careful planning allows for creating subquestions in case students need a little more prompting later on in the discussion. I like how the text also points out that you should not give answers to the question if students seem stuck, and instead invite the students to tell anything they know about the question, or what it means to them. Finally, I think it is important to remember not to comment after the first student's contribution, and instead give proper wait time, which is something we discussed a lot in class. Allowing students time to think is very important and will result in better quality responses. Colleen also pointed out in class that younger students probably just need more wait time while participating in discussion. I am glad she pointed that out because I had the mindset that younger students wouldn't be able to have a meaningful discussion because they seem to be unable to make connections to what their peers are saying. I never considered the amount of wait time they are being given, and I am interested to see what happens when you allow them more time to really think about what is being said.
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Kelley, I really enjoyed reading your post this week. You brought up many ideas about discussions that I agree and never thought to write about in my post. When you said, “The idea of students becoming comfortable in a discussion and expressing their ideas can be a little bit scary. Not because I am afraid of what they will say, exactly, but because I have learned the importance of keeping students on task and focused throughout a lesson” I could not agree with you more! I am in a 3rd grade class which is upper elementary, however my students get so off topic and sometimes it is really hard to get them back on the topic they were discussing. I am also though kind of nervous about what they say. I had an encounter during show in tell with my class when my students asked a very inappropriate question to another student. I was the only teacher in the class at that time so I did not have my CT there to help me out. I handled the situation ok, but it still made me nervous because I was not sure if I handled it in the most appropriate way. However, I believe that as teachers we have no control over what our students will say and we always need to be paying attention and listening because that is the only way they will learn what is alright to say and what is not because our students are always learning.
I also like when you talked about how students in the lower grades tend to get off task and go on rather long tangents when they become more comfortable speaking. I liked when you said, “Personally, I think that a lot of good ideas come from these "tangents", and as a facilitator of discussion, a teacher must help to point out the ideas within a student's response and help others to make connections to what their peers are saying.” I agree completely. I remember doing my science talk and even though the students were talking about something that wasn’t exactly relevant to the topic they showed me how they were really listening to each other because they built off what their classmate had just said. I think as teachers it is ok to let our students go off on a little tangent so our student’s voices are heard but it is the teacher’s responsibility to redirect those comments and not make the students feel like their contributions were not valid. We want our students to feel like they are part of the classroom community and it is our job to encourage students to participate and allow their classmates to hear their voices without the fear of rejection.
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