Blog Posting #5

Communication in the Classroom

Roles communications patterns in the classroom can play:

• Build a group identity.
• Ensure that teachers have ways of getting to know their students better.
• Enable teachers to share his or her thinking about teaching.
• Provide a shorthand for quick communication among members and the classroom community.
• Teach meta-cognitively
• Help students understand their similarities and differences and guide them to develop a sense of community.
• Model for students what you want them to do and how to make the class excellent.
• Help students see their strengths.
• Say "Pat your brain" when students do something noteworthy.
• Do "Windshield checks" to help students see if they are clear, have a few bugs stuck to them, or are covered with mud. This will provide the teacher with the with the understanding of how much help the students need.
• Diversify, Verify, Amplify, use these to help students to be challenged in discussions and assignments.
• Allow students to work in the room during lunch this will allow the students to communicate with one another and their ideas, questions, and projects.
• Hold goal-setting conferences, this is when the teacher meets with one students to talk about their progress in a particular area or a particular project.
• Help foster students understanding and ownership of their own learning.
• Use Dialogue Journals, this allows student and teacher to "talk" in ways that often are not possible during class.
• Incorporate Teacher Talk in Groups in Lesson Plans, do with 3-5 students for 5 minutes and check for students understanding of content, skills, assignment directions, and group functioning. This allows students to talk more freely in their small group rather than whole class.