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...
As I started replying to your post I found myself agreeing with you and expanding on this because it seems to get at the overall message of Ballenger's work and her beliefs. So instead I decided to make a new blog post! Thanks, Sherrie!
ReplyDeleteI also found a couple of interesting questions that are helpful when thinking about class discussions.
ReplyDelete1. Was there a shared experience that I provided or that children had already had from which they could coment?
2. Have we brought home experience into the conversation?
3. Do I need to teach them more before we begin to ask questions?
4. Who was first to speak? Specifically and deliberately choosing the first speaker can set the tone for the entire discussion.
5. How was the question phrased?
6. Have I accepted a big word without exploring what that word might mean?
These are all questions meant to guide thoughtful conversation, packed with meaning and insight. I thought these are extremely practical, and important to consider before launching into any sort of discussion in class. This is a way to explore the thoughts, wonderings or ideas your students may have or consider. I thought this was a really interesting way to reflect on my past class discussions and change them in the future.
I could not agree more! I think this is exactly what Ballenger is talking about. She wants us to take the time to really sit back and reflect on what is going on in our classrooms. Not every noise in the room is a disruption, in fact, it might be the best thing that you could teach to your students all day! Teaching is not like people used to think about it...the teacher is not the only one doing the teaching. I think the reason that this book is so important for educators to read is because they really do not take the time to use what their students are bringing to the classroom. Too many students are fearful of straying from their teaching points and lesson plans. Teaching should not be a rigid profession...teachers need to A perfect example of what Ballenger is describing happened in my classroom the other day. My co-teacher was teaching a lesson on symmetry and one of the students exclaimed, "Is that like Two Face?!?" She decided to ask the other students if they knew who Two Face from Batman was and every single student said yes. Knowing that this was part of the prior knowledge and could attach to their prior schema, my co-teacher lead the lesson in a different way than expected (and she was getting a formal observation by our principal!). By the end of the lesson, the students were extremely engaged and they all agreed that Two Face is actually not symmetrical because both sides of his face are not the same.
ReplyDeleteThis showed a deep comprehension of the content area. This may not have been achieved if my co-teacher had not decided to engage in the student's calling out and have a teachable moment. We always need to value what our students bring to the class because they might make the teaching/learning go from great to extraordinary! After this incident I gave my co-teacher the Ballenger book to read and she absolutely loved it!