Talk About Teaching

Talk is part of every classroom, regardless of grade, content area, or school location. So how can teachers harness the energy of talk to spark discussion, strengthen student dialogue, and deepen comprehension? Teaching Talk is a practical resource that will help you focus your lens on classroom talk, making the most of the student voices and ideas that are already part of your classroom, and increasing the potential for learning. Kara Pranikoff offers suggestions and strategies that can be used immediately, starting with a comprehensive list of questions to help teachers assess and reflect on student talk. Each chapter addresses an element of classroom talk along with concrete examples to help you: collect and analyze artifacts of talk provide opportunities for students to share their ideas create conversations orchestrated by students and grounded in their ideas strengthen both talking and listening in conversation reflect on progress, set goals and refine instruction. Conversation is the currency of most ideas in the world. With Teaching Talk as your guide, you'll help students develop the skills they need to be inquisitive, independent, and critical thinkers in all aspects of their lives.

Improve teaching practice through powerful professional conversations! Move beyond isolated teaching, passive observations, and ineffective workshops to be the leader who engages staff and affirms the value of reflective and informal professional discussions. Launch meaningful conversations and a powerful team of teachers who understand how students learn, what motivates them, and how to implement that research in the classroom. Good leaders know that sharing, discussing, and examining teaching practices and student work improves student learning through professional examination, inquiry, and growth. Educators who harness the power of informal professional conversation invite teachers to do the intellectual work needed to connect with students and boost achievement. The second edition of this powerful book includes: A new chapter guiding conversations to align with new state standards Outlines for specific conversation skills needed to initiate and succeed Mental maps, sample topics, and conversation activities Read Talk About Teaching! and build a culture of understanding, respect, and empathy that encourages your team to reach for new possibilities. "This is a great resource for leaders who regularly facilitate conversations with teachers. I use it in my graduate class in supervision and strongly recommend that students keep this book as a resource for the future." Diane Canino Rispoli, Clinical Professor of Educational Leadership and former school leader Syracuse University, Syracuse NY "The book’s major strength is that it combines a discussion of what constitutes good teaching and how to conduct productive professional conversations. This book would be an excellent resource for supervisors and principals." M. Susan Bolte, Principal Providence Elementary, Aubrey, TX

"This book will show you how to do expert speech and language stimulation and therapy at home throughout your loved one's daily activities. You will first learn to stimulate your loved one's speech and language through the use of questions that garner yes and no answers. From there, you will begin asking questions that require easy one-two word responses from your loved one. Once mastered, you will move to three-word answers and build thereon until your loved one or client can answer in phrases, and short sentences which will jump-start longer sentences, more independent speaking and, ultimately, conversation"--P. [4] of cover.

This book is written for all university and college teachers interested in experimenting with discussion methods in their classrooms. Discussion as a Way of Teaching is a book full of ideas, techniques, and usable suggestions on: * How to prepare students and teachers to participate in discussion * How to get discussions started * How to keep discussions going * How to ensure that teachers' and students' voices are kept in some sort of balance It considers the influence of factors of race, class and gender on discussion groups and argues that teachers need to intervene to prevent patterns of inequity present in the wider society automatically reproducing themselves inside the discussion-based classroom. It also grounds the evaluation of discussions in the multiple subjectivities of students' perceptions. An invaluable and helpful resource for university and college teachers who use, or are thinking of using, discussion approaches.

In Gatekeepers, Tammy McMorrow recognizes that teachers live in a world of deafening voices that bombard their profession with opinions, traditions, and mandates. Yet she beckons teachers to be sentinels at the doors of their classrooms - to stand watch and protect their students from any method or practice that could prove harmful. Tammy combines the research of several distinguished educational pioneers with over twenty years of her own classroom experience to question the status quo. The varied topics in this book challenge teachers of all grade levels to critically think about how they teach students' hearts and minds. She invites her readers to join this important conversation and guard the gate. She invites them to be gatekeepers.

A bold, brain-based teaching approach to culturally responsive instruction To close the achievement gap, diverse classrooms need a proven framework for optimizing student engagement. Culturally responsive instruction has shown promise, but many teachers have struggled with its implementation—until now. In this book, Zaretta Hammond draws on cutting-edge neuroscience research to offer an innovative approach for designing and implementing brain-compatible culturally responsive instruction. The book includes: Information on how one’s culture programs the brain to process data and affects learning relationships Ten “key moves” to build students’ learner operating systems and prepare them to become independent learners Prompts for action and valuable self-reflection

Shana Frazin and Katy Wischow passionately believe in the need to help students develop strong talk skills across the school day, in every subject, to prepare them for their academic lives and lives as active citizens outside of school. Using a unique "cycle" for talk that's similar to the writing process (generating, choosing, developing, acting, and reflecting), they name the predictable things we do most times we engage in a conversation, and show us how we can teach into those parts. Shana and Katy provide practical strategies for teaching four important purposes for talk that exist both in the classroom and in the real world: - talking to build relationships - talking to play with ideas - talking to clarify, analyze, and argue - talking to report. They offer a clear description of each purpose, the "when and how" to teach into those purposes, and what to do when things go awry. Classroom video brings the content to life showing what the talk looks and sounds like in action.

“Reading and writing float on a sea of talk” declared James Britton – and yet in our current education system, where the pressure is on for students to pass written exams, it is all too easily left adrift. How then, as teachers and educators, can we turn the tide and harness the power of talk in our classrooms? This is not just an educational choice but rather, given students’ vastly different experiences of language, a moral imperative. Amy Gaunt and Alice Stott’s must-read book serves as a detailed and engaging guide to get talking in class. It blends the academic research and evidence, with first-hand classroom experiences and practical strategies to enable you to unlock the power of oracy in your classroom and equip your students with the speaking skills they need to thrive in the twenty first century. Transform Teaching and Learning Through Talk describes how to: Identify and teach good talk (and listening!) Build a classroom culture which values talk Create meaningful and authentic contexts for oracy Support your quietest students to speak up too! This book is a rich resource for teachers, drawing upon key academic research and outlining what this could look like in your classroom. Throughout, the authors share personal insights, engaging anecdotes and tried-and-tested approaches drawn from their experience teaching in primary and secondary classrooms. Whether you teach college-age students or those just starting their journey through school, this book will challenge you to think deeply about what you can do integrate oracy into your practice.

The teacher-student conference is a standard in the repertoire of teachers at all levels. Because it's a one-to-one encounter, teachers work hard to make it comfortable and conversational; but because it's a pedagogical moment, they hope that learning occurs in the encounter, too. Laurel Johnson Black's thoughtful new book explores the conflicting meanings and relations embedded in conferencing, and offers both a new theoretical understanding of the conference and practical approaches to conferencing more effectively with students. Between Talk and Teaching is a valuable work for college writing teachers and writing program administrators, and a natural for the writing center, the TA training program, and the English Education program.