Student Talk

Student Talk
It is the first day of school.  As you introduce yourself to your students, you teach them routines, and you also want to get to know them.  You ask your students to share something about themselves to their partner.  You hear a few whispers, silence and wonder,  “What is going on?”
What is my first step to teach students to talk?
	As a primary teacher, a major focus of mine is to make my classroom a safe environment.  Once I create that environment, they feel a little safer to share with their partner, group members, and whole class.  My goal is to provide opportunities throughout our day for students to feel secure to share and discuss their ideas in all content areas.
“At the end of the day, the goals are simple: safety and security.” -Jodi Rell
Meaningful discussion
	I teach my students how to talk to each other by modeling what I expect.  I explicitly show them what I am looking for when speaking to a partner. For example, eyes are on the speaker, listen to what they say, take it in, respond, and ask questions to continue the conversation. I also incorporate Kagan Structures, like Round Robin and Mix Pair Share. It can be a challenge to manage the talking happening in the classroom, but it is okay if it doesn’t work out the first few times, learning is messy. The more chances I give them to practice these structures and provide time to discuss, the better they get at it. I know this expectation I have takes time to achieve (sometimes it could take the whole school year), but when I reach that point, students will be doing more than just talking to each other. I’m excited to take you on this journey and share the way I teach my students how to speak, listen, agree or disagree, and question others.        Always Learning, Sabrina Blackwood