Expanding Talk & the Significance of Ballenger's Work

I know we've talked a lot about stopping time and what it helps us, as teachers, be able to do and see because it gives us another chance to revisit puzzling moments in our classrooms. I started to ask myself: Why does Ballenger focus so much on talk, though? Why stop time? Why do all this? I feel that Ballenger's actions and purpose for writing this book is that she hopes that by helping teachers to see, recognize, and validate these puzzling moments, that these teachers will create room for these moments to roam free in the classroom.

Ballenger highlights a common concern for all classroom teachers: the disparity in who talks and how. There are some children who speak often and confidently. "Others speak little and seem to be very shy. Some seem inarticulate or rarely to have the answers we are looking for. Others seem to be thinking about other things or to be mostly looking for laughs from the other children" (p. 29). She says that when a child is not doing well in school we need to first examine that child as a talker. Ask: What kind of talk does he or she contribute to the classroom? Then, how can I change my classroom to become a space for this child's talk? Ultimately, how can I help this child access his or her education better?

She seems to suggest that puzzling moments occur because our classrooms allow for only one or two kinds of acceptable talk (formal talk, IRE) and contributions to discussion and learning (correct answers, talk that matches agenda). However, the kinds of talk that occur in the hallways or on the playground or at lunch are not any less valuable. In fact, kids have actually been found to argue in these informal spaces using logic and evidence, and tell stories with considerable skill (p. 29). These other environments welcome just as much careful thought and also call for students to articulate themselves. When kids are able to speak freely, the amount of jokes, storytelling, arguments, and questions increases. Embedded in these activities is more room for practice with language, with sharing ideas, taking initiative over the direction of talk, active listening.

How can we create a classroom in which the students who are confident because they have become members of typical, academic/classroom discourse are not the only ones who thrive and have access to the curriculum?

• Balance IRE (Initiate-Response-Evaluation) - when is it necessary? where can I drop it from my teaching?
• Follow students' questions - inquiry, thoughtful and reflective conversations around what students are genuinely curious about
• Collect students questions and follow students' lead, teacher contributes as well to this collection
• Teacher chooses a question that a student posed because of genuine curiosity to explore students' ideas
• Teacher chooses questions that are connected to big ideas because of the room to grow and provoke a series of discussions around it (a strong question)
• Reconsidering our discussion roles - teacher doesn't hold all the answers, in conversation we should 
• participate as someone with another opinion or idea or question - become equals with our kids in exploring an idea or question). *Note: participate with GENUINE CURIOSITY
• revoicing - restating in same or similar words what a child has just said; to slow the pace of the talk and make it more thoughtful, models respect for ideas

Practical ways...

Just wanted to share some practical ways Ballenger tells us to begin to analyze transcripts and conversations...
-Restate child's own words in your own words
-Ask yourself how are the ideas being represented? What connections are they making?
-Focus on what puzzles you. What's surprising or different?
-Focus on the less valuable then figure out what is going on
-Ask yourself: Was there something I missed?

I began to ask myself these questions after I recorded several classroom discussions. I realized that the areas where I thought was of no value were their jokes or off-topic comments. However, Ballenger makes note that these are the areas to analyze as well. Students' jokes and comments are all relevant for study and reflection on the part of the teacher. What connections do their jokes have to do with the topic? What connections have these students made entirely on their own? Many times because of classroom management, we probably all tend to dismiss these jokes and comments, but I began to see that Ballenger's value of this talk in the classroom probably resonates with her own students. Learning to value all of my students' words...

How Teachers are Represented in Puzzling Moments

Ballenger writes, "Teacher research, like other methods, is not a magic bullet. It will not solve all the problems. But the practices of teacher research can help to remind us that the children have plenty of knowledge -- we just don't always know how to uncover it and we don't always realize immediately when it is relevant" (124).

Our job is not only to educate our students, but also to pay close attention to everything that happens in the classroom and analyze it. We are expected to use the information and data that we discover from our analysis in order to see the potential that all students possess. Teachers are seen in a positive light in this book. Teachers are also given advice for many practical ways that they can analyze situations and find funds of knowledge in students of urban areas. Ballenger speaks very frankly about negative behaviors that many teachers fall into when they become overwhelmed or uninformed. She is not judgmental when she speaks about this, because she understands that she has been there before too.

It is reassuring that Ballenger says this method is not like a magic bullet. She knows that what she is recommending to teachers is not foolproof and it is also not something that can happen quickly. Teachers must work at this method and practice it before they have "mastered" it. I choose to put mastered in quotation marks because I believe that teachers never really master anything...they are always learning new ways to continue improving their practices. It is also impossible to use the same method with all students and expect it to work because all students have different needs and respond differently to different teacher strategies.

I am personally interested in improving my teacher research and am excited to use these strategies that Ballenger has spoken about in her book. How do you all feel about that?

How Students are Represented in Puzzling Moments

In Puzzling Moments, Cynthia Ballenger depicts students as possessing a wealth of knowledge. She believes that all students are capable of learning and that every idea that they have is worthy of sharing. Ballenger believes that the issue is not with the student, but with the way that the teacher responds to the student. Teachers need to study what their students are saying through different lenses and value every thought. I loved her chapter called Who Gets to Feel Scientific? The chapter title is deceiving or idiomatic because it implies that certain people do not get to feel scientific, however, Ballenger surprises the reader and shares the idea that ALL students can feel scientific if we take the time to value what they are bringing to the classroom. The part of the text that I most closely related to was when Ballenger wrote, "Initially in any class there are some children whose ideas just stun us because they seem so powerful. Wow, we may think, let everyone hear that. And there are others who seem to be on a different planet. It is a very common complaint of teachers that we can't teach to such a range" (69). The author goes on to discuss how we can take this range and use it to our advantage.

I many times find myself guilty of complaining that there is such a wide range in my classroom. I have readers that range from levels H to Z. This seems overwhelming at first, but Ballenger is correct, EVERY student can bring greatness to a discussion. Students can learn a lot from one another, and this is something that can be extremely valued. I utilize turn and talks many times in my classroom because I like students to hear other students' ideas and interpret them and use them to grow even bigger ideas. I have also started to practice stopping time so that I can understand the full value of what students are bringing to the classroom conversations.