Week 5 - Harris (initial post)

Typically, in my placement classroom, the 'talk' I experience is dominated by my mentor teacher. She will occasionally ask the students questions to respond to. However, she tends to select the same children over and over to answer the questions, while virtually ignoring the rest. By doing so, she is preventing those children from being able to contribute information to the 'conversation'. I have yet to experience an "instructional conversation" take place in my placement classroom. Little discussion actually takes place in the classroom, likely in part by the lack of literature that is incorporated into the classroom on a daily basis.

In order for response-centered talk to successfully take place in the classroom, some scaffolding is necessary, especially for those students who do not actively participate in classroom talk. First and foremost, it is important to create a safe environment for students, where they can feel comfortable contributing information in front of their peers and teacher(s). It is important, as a teacher, to be open to and accepting of all opinions and viewpoints, and to not be judgmental of students' responses. This is something that I've noticed my mentor teacher does not always do. It is the duty of the classroom teacher to weave together the various comments and contributions made by different students with the ideas and concepts he/she wishes to explore with them. He/she must also weave students' prior knowledge and experiences with new knowledge and experiences, ultimately broadening the scope of their understanding while building upon understandings they already possess.

There are a wide variety of learning resources available that have the potential to promote rich discussion. These resources can include a wide variety of texts that touch on important social issues that may be unfamiliar to students, or texts that involve topics or concepts that are meaningful or relevant to students. Looking at a variety of genre of literature can also be beneficial in promoting rich discussion among classmates, such as introducing poetry to students.

According to the article "Instructional conversations: Promoting comprehension through discussion" by Claude Goldenberg, instructional conversations are discussion-based lessons geared toward creating richly-textured opportunities for students' conceptual and linguistic development. These 'conversations' are meant to be interesting and engaging for all students, focusing on an idea or concept that is meaningful and relevant to most, if not all students. Although the focus of the conversation may shift, it remains clear throughout. The level of participation from students during instructional conversations is high, and is not simply dominated by the teacher, or by just one or two students. In these instructional conversations, teachers and students are responsive to the information shared by their classmates, so each contribution can be built upon. As a future teacher, I plan to take advantage of Instructional Conversations in my classroom to promote rich discussion of classroom content. I also believe the implementation of instructional conversations into my placement classrooms could greatly improve and benefit the students' comprehension of learned material.