After reading through the different talk moves, I think that the third talk move reasoning: asking your students to apply their own reasoning to someone else's reasoning would be the most natural for me to use in my classroom. The example that the book gave is asking students to respond to classmates by stating whether or not they agree or disagree with one another. This would be the easiest for me to start using on a regular basis because my students already try to use this talk move. When my CT calls on students to respond to peers, they usually start by saying whether or not they agree or disagree and then explain why. The author states that it is important for the teacher to not shed their opinion when calling on students. This allows the students to determine their own opinions. Another necessary aspect of this talk move is to have the students explain their reasoning. Simply agreeing or disagreeing is not enough. In mathematics, as in any subject, it is critical for students to be able to explain their reasoning behind an answer. Applying this talk move would be the most natural for me because it is one that my students are already familiar with.
Wait time is the fifth type of talk move that is discussed. I find wait time to be extremely important in any subject. However, it is one talk move that I struggle with using. I often find myself wanting to fill the silence when in fact allowing wait time can actually be more beneficial for everyone. Some students need more time to ponder the question and their thoughts on it. Waiting a few seconds to allow students to think before calling on students is helpful. My CT does a good job using wait time. This is a talk move that my students may not notice but one that is used daily in our classroom. I will definitely have to practice using wait time in my lessons.
Using the talk move of reasoning, especially by asking students whether they agree or disagree with another student is something I have not seen my CT use very often. At least not in math. However, it's still very early in the year and she may do more of this later on. Based on what you have described and what I read in the chapter, I think this could be very beneficial in my class. In my 3rd grade class I have noticed that several students tend to zone out in math class and only pay close attention when the teacher is focused on them. Using a talk move where students are asked to agree or disagree with one another or re-phrase each others reasoning encourages them to pay attention to each other, not just the teacher. I think that students can learn a lot from each other, however many do not listen carefully to what their classmates say during lessons. If students become used to having questions posed to them based on classmates responses I think they will learn to pay closer attention to each other.
ReplyDeleteI think my teacher does good job of the reasoning within the classroom, especially in math. If a student doesn't know directions or doesn't understand, she often has the students ask each other how to do the problem. I think this is a great strategy because then the students don't get an opinion from the teacher, someone they are likely to side with, but another student which gives them the chance to really form their individual opinion.
ReplyDeleteI think that wait time is important in the classroom, but just the right amount. When there is too much of a wait time, the class can get antsy and very disinterested in the subject, much in the same way when there is too short of a wait time.
Last week when we posted responses to the blog questions, I did not think that the reasoning within the classroom was implemented in my 4th grade classroom. Not until Wednesday when I returned and during the science lesson my CT asked students if they thought certain items in the classroom were magnetic or not and if you agreed "thumbs up" if you disagreed "thumbs down". Then students would politely express why they thought something different and it really worked well. Students were bouncing ideas off of each other and really encouraging learning. After we did this as a whole class for a few minutes, students split off into their table groups and discussed other objects listed in their science journals and then filled out a worksheet individually.
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