Blog #2

After reading the articles in the course pack and chapter 10 of Weinstein and Mignano I have come to a couple of conclusions.
There was a lot of detail and different terms that was included into each article about discussions. But I mainly found that all of the requirements and thoughts were alike. Less teacher intrusion and prodding and more student leadership. One of the teachers in the second article said that it was funny to listen to herself on videotape but it gave her a lot of insight into how to go about doing the discussion next time. She said she was proud of herself for not butting in or saying "yes, um hum" all the time but she was disappointed in herself for not picking up on a few of the students thoughts. She realized they could have been important gateways to guiding the discussion. I bring this teacher up because I feel like discussions in this time in our educational history is ver important. But I fear that I may do the things that the articles mentioned not to do. Or I may forget the difference between the student's roles and my roles as a teacher. I have decided though that I would really love to incorporate ideas like these into my classroom for literature.
The third article brought up a few good points that although we may say we need all this change in our school systems, very rarely does anyone actually do anything about it. Language arts definately need a new approach because I can remember certain ways of doing things in elementary school and beyond and rarely ever did they include ANYTHING like a discussion. It really was all the boring old recitation and quizzes that assessed our knowledge based on the readings. BORING and really not a good base to show a teacher my knowledge!!!
Anyways, as far as support goes for students that are involved in a discussion; the options are endless. First, I believe a safe and productive environment are the most important aspects. Also, remembering the purpose of the dicussion will help students know what they are doing. Being clear and concise with what you expect of them will allow the discussion to run a lot more smoothly than just letting the students do whatever they want. Student and teacher roles need to be defined so that everyone understands, this type of support will allow students to reach a high level of participation.
Chapter 10 in W&M listed a few good ideas for teachers during a discussion that I really liked. The idea of using the popsicle sticks so that everyone gets a chance to speak is a good idea. I also liked on page 326 how the book offered examples of how to facilitate the discussion by giving questions on how to properly guide the discussion. Asking inproper questions that we normally would can turn the direction of a discussion-but the examples they listed instead to keep in mind are interesting; ones that you would not think of saying.
I really enjoyed reading about this type of thing because last semester we got a little glimpse of a 'science talk' which is sort of like a discussion. I have learned that some subject areas where you would not normally think of including a discussion, actually benefit from it. Preparing and facilitating classroom discussions like these are such a simple way of improving many skills for a student that can have a lasting impression!