Critical Conversations in the Classroom
Critical Conversations in the Classroom
By: Abby Fogleman
Involving children within the classroom can be a struggle. The teacher must take race, gender, class, and differences into consideration. There can be many ways to teach a certain topic in the classroom and every student will have a different way of learning. That’s why texts and text sets are so valuable. Students may not learn from just reading and listening, some need the bigger picture or actually see a visual of what is going on. That is when teachers must use other resources, such as picture books, poems, etc.
Teacher’s role:
Discussions within the classroom should progress as the year goes on. At first, it will have to be taught to the students so that they are aware of how conversations will go in the classroom but as time goes on they will begin facilitating conversations on topics on their own.
Ways to get students involved…
- Partner work- students can share ideas more openly with each other without the intimidation of sharing them as a whole group.
- Fishbowl conversation- groups of 4-5 students go to the middle of the classroom and have a conversation about the text they read, while others observe/listen. Afterwards, the floor is open to the entire class to respond.
- Thinking devices- personal ways of learning, remembering or understanding, such as graphs, diagrams, pictures, questions, etc.
Getting Students to Talk Comfortably:
Each student comes from a different background, which makes holding conversations in the classroom a difficult but very important skill to learn. Some aspects need to be taken into consideration beforehand. Here are some examples:
- physical arrangement of space
- quiet students who are shy and unsure
- different learning styles
- fear of being “wrong”
- different home life
- aggressive voices of other classmates
Critical Thinking/Questioning:
Getting students to think critically about texts they are reading makes for great conversation in the future. They must get into the groove of discussing what they’ve read so that it becomes a normal part of everyday life in the classroom. Having a poster in the classroom with good questions to think about when reading or talking about texts will help students remember how valid it is for them to always do. This could be a great activity to do as a class so that everyone is aware. Literature is something they see in everyday life in every aspect.
Choosing Texts:
Choose texts that students can...
- Relate to
- See themselves in
- Learn through
- Think deeply about
Educators want students to be able to think on deeper levels about real world topics that are happening right now. To be able to recognize and share thoughts on topics that are going on can give students a role that allows them to change those stereotypes and hopefully want to make a difference in the world. Every story has a deeper lesson to be learned so openly talking about them is valuable. “Stories of caring, stories of collective action, stories of love across differences, these are what we wish teachers would fill their classrooms with. We want the stories to open children to the possibilities of freedom. We want the stories to inform who they become. We want children to carry with them into the world the image of how to make peace, how to reject racism, how to help someone who is in trouble, and how to guard the earth. We want them to become parents who sit at dinner tables with the children of the future and ask, “What will you do for the world?” And then, to listen to the possibilities.” (Bomer, pg. 58).
Questions:
1. As an educator, how can we make sure to get to know our students on a deeper level so that we can help choose texts that will interest them?
2. What are some ways you plan to get students to share their thoughts or ideas comfortably, who are normally reluctant to talk?
Questions:
1. As an educator, how can we make sure to get to know our students on a deeper level so that we can help choose texts that will interest them?
2. What are some ways you plan to get students to share their thoughts or ideas comfortably, who are normally reluctant to talk?
3. Do you think that as a future educator, it will be a challenge to step back at times in order for students to facilitate conversation in the classroom? How will you remind yourself that it is important for students to do this on their own?
Citations:
Hollingworth, L. (2009). Complicated Conversations: Exploring Race and Ideology in an Elementary Classroom. Urban Education, 44(1), 30–58. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085907312496
Bomer, R., & Bomer, K. (2001). For a Better World: Reading and Writing for Social Action. Heinemann.
Good work, Abby! Focusing on your question 3, I think that as an educator is will be difficult at times to let students facilitate their own conversation. I think the challenge will come when you really want the students to notice or focus on one or two points but they go in a completely different direction. While this is a wonderful thing to see (as long as inquiry is still happening), it does raise a problem of them not grasping what you need them to grasp from the discussion. In an ideal world, you would have infinite time so your students could explore every rabbit hole they come across, but you don't. It is therefore important for you to ask as a facilitator rather than a passive observer of student-led discussions.
ReplyDeleteI had never heard of a "fishbowl conversation". I can see the benefits -- both for the "fish" and the observers, but I do have a few questions about it. Assuming you want every student to spend at least some time in the fishbowl, the students who are quiet, shy, or afraid to be wrong might feel extra nervous with most of the class watching them. On the other hand, a student who is always very active in discussions might completely dominate the fish bowl and take away from the other students' time to talk. Ultimately, I think a successful fishbowl routine would be difficult to accomplish with every student as an active participant.
Abby, I think you did a great job including information from the texts that explains strategies we can use as future educators. To answer your first question, I think as a future educator it is our responsibility to really understand and make it a priority to learn about our students individual cultures so we can better promote their growth and engagement in the classroom. Aside from just asking students questions, I think one way we can get to know students and their cultures better would be to provide writing prompts that encourage them to share information about themselves. The prompts could be very open, allowing them to share the parts of their culture that they feel comfortable sharing, but that would provide us as teachers some insight to what might engage our students. I also think by providing many different types of books to our students, we can ask questions why they enjoy those types of books, and maybe further gauge what engages our students. We can then use the information we find to develop future lessons around critical texts that relate to our students. We can then ask our students more critical questions and encourage them to use critical thinking as well. As expressed on pages 51-52 of For a Better World, students can begin to apply critical stances to the texts they are reading. (Bomer & Bomer 2001) I think we can also use this information to find our more about our students relationship with reading. When we encourage students to think critically about the texts they are reading, we can then form new insight based on how students think about certain texts.
ReplyDeleteBomer, R., & Bomer, K. (2001). For a Better World: Reading and Writing for Social Action. Heinemann, 88 Post Road West, PO Box 5007, Westport, CT 06881. (Chapter 3)
I also thought question one was an important question to address. The idea of writing prompts is great! I'm not sure if I would have thought about doing that. That would be great for an in class activity and could meet many other objectives int the class as well. I also agree that having many different types of books in the classroom can be very beneficial. For a Better World stresses on pages 46-47 how important it is to make text to text connections. When a class is reading complex stories it can be helpful to add on to the experience by adding in other stories (Bomer & Bomer, p.46). With having multiple books in the classroom as you previously stated, achieving this goal would be more than possible. Having books that relate to each other in non-obvious ways would be a great way for students to build a critical consciousness.
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ReplyDeleteI think the first question you posed is a very important. Honestly, I believe all teachers really want to get to know their students a deeper level, but aren’t sure how to get there or don’t want to cross any “boundaries.” Also, I think as teachers gain experience over the years, they may develop a “know it all” attitude, which could be a disservice to students. When being a culturally proactive teacher there are several different ways to begin to get to know students on a deeper level. I think one of the essential factors is being able to understand your own positionality and reflecting on the ways it shapes your teaching and students learning (Garcia & O’Donnell Allen, p. 18). I believe if you can’t begin to understand yourself & your unconscious biases, it is impossible to understand students on a deeper level. Another key way to get to understand students on a deeper level is actually go out in their community, participate/attend community events, watch a sporting event that has students from your class participating, etc. By doing all that a teacher would have a much more meaningful way of helping them pick out a text, especially a critical text. I think it is very important to keep doing this year in and year out as teacher. The pose “proactive” implies that we will not enter the classroom with a “know it all” mentality, but as learners with and from our students, their families, and their communities. (Garcia & O’Donnell-Allen, p. 19).
ReplyDeleteThe other question I would like to address that you posed is the third one. I think it would be very hard at times as a teacher to not guide the conversation, because you would it get could get out of hand and not be the typical classroom conversation a lot of us think of. However, I would think back of what it means to be a “hacker” and part of being a hacker means “not playing it safe.” Also, I would think of what it means to have a genuine conversation. “Children need to be taught and need to practice how to look at one another, how to talk to one another, not just perform for the teacher.”(Bomer & Bomer, p. 47). The more the teacher jumps in, the more the students will begin to just have conversations and answers the teacher wants to hear or what they think the teacher may be looking for.
Abby, I loved your question 2, what are some ways to get students to share their thoughts or ideas comfortably in the classroom? When I asked myself this question I had many ideas. A couple Ideas I had was to have whiteboards in a spot where students could get one and write their answers or questions or draw a picture then show the class or hold it up for me/us to see, this will allow them to be able to communicate with the classroom while they are still finding their voice! Another thing they could do is whisper what they want to say to a friend or neighbor and they can tell us out loud, last semester in the 2nd grade classroom I was in during our peace learning activity there was a girl who was still working on her English but wanted to be a part of the group conversation, so her friend translated the question asked, then the little girl told her friend in Spanish her response and her friend told the rest of us in the group. I looked over at the little girl and she had a huge smile on her face because she was part of a group conversation. I do not know another language other than English so in my classroom I would like to have a device that has multiple language translations that can translate, words, questions and sentences so we can all communicate together. This will not only give all students a voice but it will also help us learn different languages.These ideas will give each student equal learning and was to participate in my classroom.
ReplyDeleteBrinkley I also witnessed a similar situation when observing in field last semester. A Spanish speaking student sat next to a boy who could speak both Spanish and English and during their math lesson they went up to the projector together to show the Spanish speaking students answer. This idea goes with what Abby said about taking into consideration that some students have a fear of being “wrong." Sometimes it goes further than just getting the answer wrong in the math lesson I witnessed she was nervous she would explain her answer to the whole class wrong. Learning a new language is hard enough, and I think that allowing students to build those bonds while they are still learning is a great way to allow those students to be heard in the classroom without being fearful.
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DeleteOther ideas I remember from other classes include:
Delete1. Gallery Walk/Graffiti Walls, where a group begins a discussion/idea on a paper displayed throughout the room, and students can examine and discuss/add to the ideas.
2. ABCD Whisper, during which students gather in fours and each is asked to reflect on a concept and draw a visual representation of his/her interpretation, then share their answer within the group in a zigzag pattern.
3. Take and Pass, where students write a response, pass the note to the right, add their response, and continue until they get their paper back. As a group, they debrief their collaborative collection of information.
I really enjoyed reading your blog! The question that most stuck out to me was question 2. In my experience, many teachers and professors did the fishbowl discussion. In high school it was more uncomfortable since we had to stand in the middle of the circle and in college, we had the chairs that had the desks attached to them and it had wheels, which made it more fun to roll in and out of the discussion circle. I think the fishbowl discussion is helpful because all students are inside of the circle at some point in the discussion since that is how the discussion works. Over time, students should feel comfortable participating since it'll be a common recurrence. I agree with Ilyssa. The prompts should be very open and should be interesting to students and teachers, so they feel comfortable sharing and the teacher could also learn more about their students.
ReplyDeleteJackie,
DeleteI had to do the fishbowl discussion as well and stand infront of everyone and I always dreaded this! I got more comfortable as it went on but I remember the first time my teacher said we would be doing this and I was so nervous! I'm so glad I wasn't the only who had to do this! I don't know if I would use this technique in my class or not. I think it would really depend on my students and see where it went the first couple of times maybe doing it. I think like you said, this would be a great way for teachers to learn about their students!
Jackie, I really liked hearing about your experiences with the fishbowl discussion because I have never been witnessed to it! I wish my teachers had done this, it would have forced me to be more comfortable in the classroom! It also would have created an atmosphere where people can share their thoughts and opinions more freely and more often. More over, I feel like this type of involvement would lead to better public speaking. This would also be a beneficial way to use controversial/deep topics to see how individual students feel and think as well as help each one of them develop critical thinking.
DeleteJackie, I also remember doing fishbowl discussion in the classroom and they always made me so nervous. Still to this day I get nervous to talk or present things in front of people, but I do believe that it has made me a little bit more comfortable to get in front of people to have a discussion or present something. I still get nervous and freak out a little, but I do notice myself warming up to the idea a lot faster than I would if I had never participated in them. I do find them important in the classroom, but I think there are more ways to make in fun and enjoy for students who are nervous or scared.
DeleteAbby, your third question is very powerful. I feel as teachers we strive to be facilitators and remain "in control" at all times. That being said, it can be hard for teachers to turn over the discussion guidance to students. However, allowing them to lead discussions and share their opinions can help us learn about them deeper, leading back to question 1. I feel that the responses we get from them during these student lead discussions are an insight to who they are. Students may be more open to sharing their truths with each other as they feel they are among peers. So, I think it we, as teachers, are able to sit back and listen we can open ourselves up to learning more about our students. This can then aid us in choosing relatable texts and text sets for each individual student as well as the class as a whole.
ReplyDeleteTaylor I thought about the same thing. I didn't have a student led discussion until I was in high school and then when we did it got interrupted because students had opposing views from one another and people began to argue. I would love to have had my teacher sit backh and listen to see the different views and learn more about who we are. I think this like you said could aid teachers in getting texts for students for their interests! Nice points!
DeleteI agree with you that we want to be in control of our classroom and lead the conversation our way, but as we've discussed in class and learned in the readings, it's not beneficial to teachers or to the students. Allowing students to lead discussion could seem intimidating since we can't control what the students are going to say and where the conversation will lead, but as a facilitator, if you ask the right questions, I think it can keep the conversation going in a productive direction. If teachers listen first and talk later, it'll be easier to learn more about the environment of the classroom.
DeleteAs someone who is also very reluctant to talk in the classroom, I can relate to these students! I think the biggest impact we can make as educators is to question "why". Sometimes, children are naturally introverted, and from observation, we can create personalized ideas to make them come out of their shells. But sometimes, there are reasons as to why students are apprehensive to talk in the classroom, but teachers don't take the time to ask. For example, the biggest reason why I have never been the student to participate in big class discussions is because of my speech; I am hyper-aware of what I say and often get embarrassed after I speak. I am my biggest critic; I always replay what I said in my head and find mistakes along the way. My English is the best that it's ever going to get, but I still mess up my grammar and I have to rehearse what I will say in my head so I know what words I can use to make it sound comprehensible. I have never had a teacher ask me why. Why I don't talk in class or why I am always very anxious and nervous to speak out loud, for fear of judgement and because I have never had that comfort or support. I have even had a teacher make fun of me during a presentation, where I ended up crying. When I become an educator, I want my students to feel like they can rely on me as well as their classmates in a safe and welcoming environment. I will ask why and find a way to help, with tools, with support and encouragement, with whatever they need.
ReplyDeleteI do think it will be hard to step back in the classroom due to my concern of introverted students being overshadowed by extroverted ones. I always want to make sure everyone is treated with respect during discussions, but I always gravitate towards children who are shy, to make sure they are being heard, and that is my bias. I will have to learn to step back and let my students facilitate their own discussions with proactive tools I have provided for them. I know how important it is to have your own voice. In order to grow, students need to speak their minds; we need critical thoughts and ideas to keep bettering ourselves, our community, our society, etc., which will influence me to step back and let them facilitate their own discussions.
Lynne, I do agree that it wouldn't be too hard to step back in the classroom. I think it is important for us to do this because , as you said, so many introverted students are overshadowed by the extroverts. I do think about how it may sometimes get out of hand if we let the students control the discussion. Having a prompt will help the students stay on task and also think on their own. I also agree that we need critical thoughts. Being able to speak our minds and think critically is what helps shape our opinions and who we are as a person.
DeleteLynne, I think what you are pointing out is very important. I know that I also struggle with feeling comfortable talking in class, but it is on so much of a smaller scale that it feels insignificant compared to what others face. I can't imagine how harmful it was for a teacher to make fun of you during a presentation. I think as future teacher we need to hear these stories of what people have faced because we can see the impact that we can have on our students if we are insensitive.
DeleteI understand how being introverted in a class can be hard for a student and even for a teacher. I think it is important for teacher to make sure we know and understand how our students are feeling and ask them what we can do to help them if they are feeling uncomfortable. I love your idea of stepping back and helping facilitate conversations without leading them to help the introverted people have a voice in the classroom as well.
Lynne, that makes a lot of sense and I can totally see where you are coming from. I personally am a shy person. So, when it comes to talking in front of the class, my anxiety comes out. I rehearse what i'm going to say just like you said you did. When it comes to teaching in our classrooms I think its going to be so important to take these things into consideration so that our quiet students voices are heard.
DeleteAbby you posed some really great questions over this reading! I think as an educator it can be sometimes hard to get to know each of your students on a deeper level right off the bat. I think it definitely takes time to get to know them and can really be up to the student on how much they tell you and let you in. I think once you observe and talk to them you will be able to help them with the texts they will like. Maybe let them choose the first couple to get an idea and then go based off that. I hope that I am able to do this because I want to make sure my students find something to read that they enjoy. One way I plan to get my students to share their thoughts or ideas is doing a question box in the classroom. They will have a chance to put their name on it but don't have to. I will also do popcorn on questions. Kind of like reading but for questions, I will want to make sure I hear from everyone and this could be an easy way. I also will talk with them individually to make sure they feel comfortable if they don't like talking out loud all the time. Lastly I think I could struggle with students leading the conversation depending on the topic. I think my worry is that the topic will go into a topic that should not be talked about and students will be uncomfortable and get upset. I think making sure they stay on topic would be the main thing. I think these are good things to have happen though!
ReplyDeleteI love all of the questions you posed Abby so nice job!
Abby, I thought your blog was spot on! You developed great questions that were from the reading.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading the different aspects to think about in a classroom I thought of myself when I was in elementary. I feel that if my teachers thought about these I would have wanted to talk more in class. I like how the book talks about different ways to involve the students. One that I liked a lot was the FishBowl Conversation. By being in small groups helps many students because are they not talking to the whole class.
I really thought about your second question. I thought about how I was the student who did not want to talk in class. As being a future educator I would give my students many opportunities to feel comfortable talking in the classroom. One way I would do this is by doing partner work, group discussions and "anonymous posts". I've heard other teachers use anonymous posts by allowing students to write what they thought about in class that they either questioned or wanted to learn more about. They could also write their name if they wished. If they did not want to then you could use the questions for a class discussions. This may help other students that do not feel as comfortable with the subject. By knowing someone else in the class has the same questions, they may be more comfortable to talk in class.
Abby this is great! You can tell you spent some time coming up with thoughtful questions. I really like question 3, 3. Do you think that as a future educator, it will be a challenge to step back at times in order for students to facilitate conversation in the classroom? How will you remind yourself that it is important for students to do this on their own?
ReplyDeleteI feel that as an educator you are used to running the classroom and making sure everyone gets the knowledge and is paying attention. I feel that you may forget that sometimes the best thoughts and perspectives get brought to attention when the students themselves are talking to each other. Sometimes students may not know they have a question until listening to how their peers took something in. To remind myself that this is important I could do something kind of like this where each week a student is responsible for facilitating a conversation with their classmates. This way each student gets a chance to lead discussions.
Nice job Abby! Taking a closer look at your first question of how to get to know our students better I believe the best method is to just sit down with them. Students may want to write their feelings or how they are in a journal but they will appreciate it if you are having an organic conversation. Some times as teachers we try to force the conversation in a certain direction but if we are open with our students they are bound to be more open with us as well. In regards to students who are less open letting them know it is a safe space and they won't be judged is crucial. Sometimes students are only reluctant because they feel they will be wrong or judged. Creating an accepting environment is key.
ReplyDeleteGreat blog post Abby! I really liked your question one. I thought it was important to answer. I think that it is important to sit with your students and get to know them more. Learn about them and see what they like or enjoy. There is more to education than just teaching our students what they have to know. It is so valuable to learn about our students and where they come from. We have to bring text in that they enjoy or like because they need that in the classroom. Allowing some students to write down what they enjoy or like can even be an option. Not all students are comfortable talking to people so it is important that we give everyone an option on how they want us to receive the information. It is beyond important to bring real world problems into the classroom and discuss them with our students. They know what is going on in the world and sometimes they need someone to talk to about those things. We have to think deeply about those topics and allow the students to think deeply. We have to make sure our students feel loved, comfortable and happy in our classrooms.
ReplyDeleteAbby, the topic you covered about having children interact in the classroom is important. The reading mentioned, as you listed, things you might want to take into account, such as a shy student or a student who has different cultural norms. How might you adjust your lesson to make those students comfortable? One point that you made was having literature that the students feel like they can relate to. Having books that a student can relate to on a personnel level may make them more willing to open up and interact in class. You listed the idea of partner work, which is an excellent idea because the student might feel the anxiety of talking to a cluster of classmates go down. You also listed the ‘fishbowl’ idea, which I think might make certain student uncomfortable if they are the ones having to talk and be looked at.
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