Chapter 7 Reflection

This chapter brought to my awareness the importance of questioning in the classroom. Questions and how you respond to them can open up or close down a discussion. So the chapter sets out to build up our "toolbox" so that we can learn how to ask effective questions and respond appropriately in order to stimulate conversation. Each part of the lesson uses questions to fuel the activity. For example, a teacher can guide a student to think about their observations, gathering more than one response to ensure variety and equal participation.

I particularly found the examples of reinforcers to be very helpful. Saying, "Good job!" is okay, but an explanation makes the praise stronger and more personalized. If everyone is hearing the same thing, a teacher's praise might lose value and not be as effective. The book provides excellent examples of effective praise. Also the book shows us how to extend student responses. This is really important because it helps to move the discussion along and shows the student that you really care about what he or she is saying. How do we approach a student when they are wrong? The book gives a general strategy to address incorrect ideas, without hurting the child's self esteem. This is difficult to master, because words are very powerful, and the wrong word or tone may influence whether or not a student decides to participate again. I truly believe that there is always a more positive way to approach any answer so that both parties have gained something and have walked away better then before.

I was surprised to find out that increasing your wait time to more than 3 seconds can have such a great impact on a student's confidence and participation. This small gesture is so important!

This chapter is certainly a great reference to add to our "toolbox". It is apparent that a teacher needs a variety of tools to help build a classroom community. A classroom that contains discussion and ideas, fueled and inspired by the curiosity and wonder of each and every student, can exist and flourish with the help and support of teachers.