Since most of us learn to listen and speak as infants, isn’t it easy to carry on a conversation or to engage in dialogue by the time we enter school? What is there to learn about using oral language/communication/dialogue skills in the classroom? What do students need to learn? What do we, as teachers, need to learn?
Here are a few perspectives. I wonder if you agree with any of these ideas.
The Common Core State Standards: Influence of Listening and Speaking Standards
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=j2xt3G6bevo
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What do You Think and Why?
http://teachingmathculture.wordpress.com/2014/07/14/what-do-you-think-and-why/
Posted on July 14, 2014 by teachmathculture under Teaching
“Persuading children to answer this question is a big obstacle to getting rich mathematical discourse off the ground in any classroom.
But think about it. That is a really tricky question to answer, both socially and intellectually.
I asked the teachers to spend some time thinking about why students might be reluctant to participate.”….
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Want to Improve Your Teaching? Listen To Students
Harriet Sanford The NEA Foundation
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Teacher Talk: The Missing Link
http://www.learningspy.co.uk/english-gcse/teacher-talk-the-missing-link/
This is something that had become increasing apparent to me over the past year or so, but it wasn’t until hearing about the fabulous work Lee Donaghy is engaged in at Park View School in Birmingham that it all clicked into place. Teachers absolutely must talk if students are actually going to learn anything worthwhile; the trick is to make that talk as efficient and instructive as possible. I’ve spent the past few months experimenting with the teaching & learning cycle Lee describes and have come to the (possibly unoriginal) conclusion that its success is dependent on the quality of teacher talk. You see students’ ability to write well depends on their ability to speak well. As teacher we are modelling speech all the time. We don’t really get a choice about this – we’re either doing it badly or well. This cycle provides a model for ensuring that our talk makes the strongest possible impact on students’ ability to write, speak and think in academic register.
Dialogue About Language, Literacy and Learning 