It is so good to have your thoughtful, talented, generous voice back!
Zoe
On Thursday, July 10, 2008, at 05:26 PM, ginger/rob wrote:
> I'm continuing how I teach my class our procedures.
> Ginger W.
> +++++++++++++++
> Next I say this to them: "You know how when the teacher asks a
> question and
> you get your thinking ready and everyone raises their hand to answer
> but
> she/he can only call on one person? And when she doesn't call on you,
> you
> hear that inner voice saying, 'Man! I wanted her to call on ME!!!'??
> Well I
> have a better way I'm going to teach you so that EVERYONE can have
> their
> thinking shared. Because I know that everyone has great answers and
> great
> ideas and great thinking. So I'm going to teach you something called
> TURN
> and TALK. This is how it works."
>
> I ask them to find someone right next to them who will become their
> thinking
> partner. I walked around helped them pair up. If there is an odd
> number I
> help one group make a threesome. If I noticed eye rolling or heard
> groans
> (because of who I had paired up) I had this little talk with them
> next---
>
> "Now I know that kids really just like to turn and talk with kids they
> are
> used to. But you know what? That's not what we're going to do this
> year.
> In a minute I am going to have you turn and talk about that but before
> I do-
> this is how turn and talk LOOKS and SOUNDS. (I charted this on the
> next
> page of my two column T-chart- see below.) When I say 'Turn and talk
> about....' you need to turn your body towards your talking partner.
> Some
> people say 'Get knee to knee and eye to eye'. This is actually Active
> Listening, isn't it? I want you to start your talking this way: 'I'm
> thinking........' And be sure to add on the word BECAUSE and keep
> going
> with your thinking. So instead of just saying, for example, 'I'm
> thinking
> that it should be quiet.' Say: 'I'm thinking it should be quiet
> because that
> way we can all concentrate on doing our work.' Piggyback (add to)onto
> what
> you hear your partner say. Go deep with your thoughts. Use hand
> gestures as
> you are talking."
>
> LOOKS LIKE:
> two (sometimes three with odd numbers) students together
> facing each other eye to eye, knee to knee
> mouths moving
> hand gestures
>
> SOUNDS LIKE:
> talking together in small groups
> piggybacking- adding more on to thinking
> using examples
> "I'm thinking...............because......"
>
> Then I go on to say, "O.K. Now I want you to turn and talk about
> what is
> GOOD about having the chance to turn and talk to different kids each
> day.
> Be sure to add the 'because......' .
>
> They INSTANTLY turn and talk and my job is to walk around and listen
> in. If
> I notice a group not facing each other I nudge them to turn towards
> each
> other. If I notice a group not talking, I scoot down by them and
> facilitate
> their talk. I rephrase the talking point and help them talk it out.
> If I
> notice groups who are "done" I have them look at the groups who are
> still
> going at it and suggest that possibly there is much more to say about
> it and
> ask them to say more about their thinking and remind them to add
> BECAUSE.......
>
> After just about 1-2 minutes (while they are still going at it) I say,
> "Let's come back together." I may have to say that two times. I tell
> them
> that when I say that it means turn back facing me (active listening).
> Sometimes they are frustrated because they are "not done" but I tell
> them
> that's o.k. I'm sure they got to share something that was important.
> Keeping the talking time short helps the lesson keep moving and what my
> purpose is, is to let ALL voices be heard and to engage ALL minds in
> the
> lesson.
>
> I then tell them at I am going to teach them the next step in TURN and
> TALK.
> That they each got to hear the thinking of their thinking partner but
> the
> rest of us would like to hear some of that thinking as well. I tell
> them,
> "O.k. This is how we are going to do this next part. When it is the
> "share
> back whole group" part, you can share back something YOU said during
> TURN
> and TALK or something you heard YOUR PARTNER say. When I ask who has
> something to share, and I call on you to share, this is how I want you
> to
> say it: 'Nancy and I were thinking.......... because .......' or 'Dan
> and I
> were thinking......... because........' And I'll help you remember
> this
> part. So who would like to share?"
>
> When I call on someone I remind everyone else to "do" Active
> Listening. I
> have that person wait until everyone is "doing" Active Listening. If
> he
> starts looking at me when he begins to talk, I point to the group and
> I say,
> "Tell the kids, not me." If he starts without the "Nancy and I were
> thinking" part I DO interrupt him and say the words I want HIM to say.
> ("Nancy and I were thinking.....") Sometimes even when I do that they
> don't
> get the HINT to word it that way and so I say, "No, I want you to
> start over
> and say, 'Nancy and I were thinking...'. (YES this interrupts the
> FLOW but
> I have learned the hard way that if I don't MAKE them say it the way I
> want
> them to say it they simply don't do it. They really DO catch on after
> a few
> times like this!) I tend to just ask about 2-4 people to share back
> whole
> group. I know some people don't take the time to do this but besides
> me
> hearing where they are at with their thinking, I believe sharing back
> whole
> group creates models for those who are not yet at the deeper thinking
> level
> of most of the kids. Those kids will hear the stronger thinkers and
> will
> strive to get there. Another reason I want to hear sharing back whole
> group
> is to reinforce, reteach, redirect any misconceptions or gaps in
> understanding.
>
> One suggestion for older students- I would say that we are going to
> leave at
> the door if we are a boy or a girl because it is not going to matter
> who it
> is or if they are a boy or girl when we turn and talk. We ALL have
> good
> thinking to share and it will no longer be o.k. to just share girl to
> girl
> and boy to boy. We are all thinkers and all thinking will be valued
> and
> encouraged. I would tell them that I will be watching to see that
> they are
> choosing to sit in different places when we come over to our gathering
> area
> rather than just sitting by the same people. So that they will be
> able to
> enjoy and learn from receiving the thinking of ALL their peers in their
> class.
>
> I LOVE turn and talk. When I ask my class to turn and talk about why
> it is
> good to turn and talk with lots of different kids and not just the
> same kid
> each time, they give back whole group exactly what I would have said
> if I
> had chosen to just TELL them why. It takes me out of the
> EXPERT/transmitter
> of THE information role. They each get the opportunity
> (in a very structured and comfortable way) to share their thoughts.
> All
> thoughts are heard. Based on my experiences, turn and talk bumps up
> engagement in all subject areas. I started doing turn and talk during
> math
> and science and social studies. Whenever I would have previously just
> called on one student. You can walk around an hear their thinking if
> you do
> it when they are at their desks as well as in the gathering area.
>
> I always have to remind myself that going over this one time is not
> enough.
> Depending on the group, I may have several thinking pairs model what it
> looks like/sounds like for the class and then have the class turn and
> talk
> about what they noticed and heard. I even often ask the class BEFORE
> hand
> to turn and talk about what I should see/hear when we do turn and talk
> today. Then have a few share back. And then of course have them
> reflect on
> how it went at the end of the shared part of our reading workshop.
>
> After just rereading this email it sounds a bit ANAL-- on paper it
> does but
> not in practice. Once my kids are "trained" each year in these
> processes to
> help us facilitate our thinking, the work I have in store for them
> will be
> easier to accomplish and we'll have greater success. When they
> backslide, I
> go back to these beginning "training" steps and redo it. I think one
> reason
> our "management" breaks down is because we think if we've taught it
> they
> should do it. But kids are kids and if they need reteaching and
> reaffirming
> from us to bring them back to our expectations then that is OUR job
> and not
> a fault of theirs. My ultimate goal is to have a smooth flowing
> reading
> workshop (and day in general) so that we can do the work at hand. I've
> found doing all the upfront work pays off in the end.
>
> Pt. 3 in next email.
>
> Ginger W.
> grade 3
>
>
>
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