The bottom line: messages sent, messages reconstructed

• Ask for input from students about what they want to learn, how they want to learn it, and what kind of evaluation they consider fair. Although using their ideas may feel at first as if you are giving up your responsibility as the teacher, asking for students’ input indicates respect for students. It is likely that many of their suggestions need clarification or revision to become workable, especially if the class must also cover a particular curriculum during a set time. But even just the asking for input shows respect, and can contribute to community in the classroom. • If conflicts arise between students or between a student and teacher, encourage respectful communication as explicitly as you can. Some communication strategies about conflict resolution were described in Chapter 7 and are helpful in this regard: identifying true problem ownership, listening actively, assertive (not aggressive) I-messages, and negotiation. • Find times and ways for the class to experience itself as a community. This suggestion may look a bit vague at first glance, but in practice it is actually quite concrete. Any action builds community if it is carried out by the group as a whole, especially if it is done regularly and repeatedly and if it truly includes every member of the class. Such actions become rituals, not in the negative sense of empty or mindless repetitions, but in the positive sense of confirmations by group members of their commitment to each other (Ehrenreich, 2007). In the elementary grades, an obvious example of a ritual is reciting the Pledge of Allegiance (or its equivalent in classrooms outside the United States). But there are many other examples of classroom routines that gradually acquire the (positive) qualities of ritual or community-affirmation, often without deliberate intention or effort. A daily, regular time to work through homework problems together in class, for example, may serve obvious academic purposes. But it may also gradually contribute to a classroom’s identity as a class. With time and familiarity the group homework time may eventually come to represent

“who we are” and of “what we do here” for that class.

The bottom line: messages sent, messages reconstructed

As we have explained in this chapter, teachers and students communicate in multiple, overlapping ways. Communications may often be expressed in words—but not necessarily and not completely. They may be organized into lectures, questions, discussions, or group projects. They tend to be expressed in particular language registers that we have called simply teacher talk and student talk. All things considered, communication obviously serves a wide range of teaching and learning tasks and activities, from stimulating students’ thinking, to orchestrating classroom routines, to managing inappropriate behaviors. It is an intrinsic part of the parts of teaching that involve interaction among class members.

Note, though, that teaching consists of more than interaction among class members. There are times when teachers prepare lessons or activities, for example, without talking to students or anyone else. There are also times when they develop their own skills as teachers—for example, by reading and reflecting, or by attending professional development seminars or workshops—which may involve communication, but not in the sense discussed in this chapter. It is to these other parts of teaching that we turn in the next chapter.

Table 20: Year one: Kelvin’s lecture notes

Nature and Purposes of Children’s Play

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1. Introduction to topic: What do we mean by play?

• excess energy • seeking stimulation—relieve boredom • escape from work 2. Six qualities defining play

• intrinsic motivation

• attention to the process, not the product • non-literal behavior—make-believe

• no external rules

• self-governed • active engagement 3. Implications for teaching

• devise activities with play-like qualities • learn by watching children playing

Table 21: Year three: Kelvin’s question-and-answer notes

Nature and Purposes of Children’s Play

1. Introduction to topic: What do we mean by play? [First ask 1-2 students for their own answers to question.]

• excess energy [Ask: What evidence is there for this?] • seeking stimulation—relieve boredom […or for this?] • escape from work 2. Six qualities of children’s play [Invite students’ definitions, but keep them brief.]

• intrinsic motivation

• attention to the process, not the product • nonliteral behavior—make-believe

• no external rules

• self-governed • active engagement

[Can you think of examples and/or counterexamples of each quality?] 3. Implications for teaching

• devise activities with playlike qualities [What activities have you already seen as a student teacher?] • learn by watching children playing [How could you do this? Invite suggested strategies from students.]

Table 22: Year eight: Kelvin’s discussion notes Nature and Purposes of Children’s Play

• Discuss possible explanations for play—what do students think are its true purposes? (10 minutes?) • Can we define play? Brainstorm defining qualities, with examples. (30 minutes) • Important question for all defining qualities: Are there exceptions—examples of play that do not show certain defining qualities, but are still play? (15 minutes) • What is important about play for teaching? (10 minutes +) • …for the welfare of children? (10 minutes +) • Etc. (anything else brought up by students)

Table 23: Year twenty: Kelvin’s guidelines for group work

Nature and Purposes of Children’s Play

• Make sure you listen to everyone, and not just to the people you agree with the most. Part of the challenge of this project is to include all team members. • You do not have to be best friends with someone in order to be partners. But you do have to get the work done. • Remember that it takes many skills and abilities to do this project well. Among other things, you need to: 1) find and understand research and other publications about children’s play, 2) observe children skillfully when they are playing, 3) have confidence in describing what you learn to group mates, 4) write about what you learn, and 5) be tactful and respectful when listening and talking with partners.

Chapter summary

Because communication in classrooms is more complex and unpredictable than in many other situations, it is important for teachers to understand its unique features and functions. It is helpful to think of classroom communication as serving a mixture of three purposes at once: content talk, procedural talk, and behavior control

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talk. It is also helpful to recognize that classroom communication has elements that are not only verbal, but also nonverbal and unintended.

To be effective in using verbal communication, teachers need to use appropriate instructional strategies related to content, such as using advance organizers, relating new information to prior knowledge, and organizing new information on behalf of students. It includes strategies that assist students to communicate, such as inquiry learning and cooperative learning. To communicate well about procedures and about the behaviors expected of students, teachers need a variety of management techniques, such as those discussed in Chapter 7 and summarized again in Table 19. To be effective in using nonverbal communication, teachers need to use appropriate eye contact, allow ample wait time between speaking turns, and be aware of the effects of social distance on students.

Structures of participation influence communication by facilitating particular patterns of speaking and listening, while at the same time making other patterns less convenient or disapproved. Four common participation structures are lectures, questions-and-answers, classroom discussions, and group work.

Key terms

Caring community Class discussions Collaborative group work Communication Content talk Control talk Eye contact Lecture Nonverbal communication Participation structures Procedural talk Questions-and-answer Register Social distance Student talk register Teacher talk register Unintended communication Verbal communication Wait time

On the Internet

<http://www.uu.edu/centers/faculty/resources/index.cfm?CatID=13> This URL offers tips for enhancing classroom communication. It is organized around ten basic topics (e.g. “Organizing Effective Discussions”) and focuses primarily on verbal communication. It is part of the more general website for Union University of Jackson, Tennessee. <http://www.idea.ksu.edu/index.html> This website contains over 40 short papers (1-4 pages each) on a variety of topics, including many related to enhancing communication, but also some related to classroom organization and management in general. Some of the papers refer to college or university teaching, but many are quite relevant to public school teaching. <http://www.fhsu.edu/~zhrepic/Teaching/GenEducation/nonverbcom/nonverbcom.htm> This website contains a thorough discussion of nonverbal communication—more detailed than possible in this chapter, and with photos and drawings to illustrate key points. <http://www.responsiveclassroom.org/index.html> This website contains many resources, among which are articles about classroom management and communication, including nonverbal communication. It is intended strictly for public school teachers. Once you get to the homepage, click on their “Newsletter” for the articles.

References

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9. Facilitating complex thinking

A few years ago one of us (Kelvin) had the privilege of co-teaching with an experienced first grade teacher, Carolyn Eaton. As part of a research project, Ms Eaton allowed some of her reading lessons to be observed. Here is what Kelvin saw when Ms Eaton was having a conference with Joey. They are reading a book “together”, except that Ms Eaton wants Joey to do as much reading as possible himself. Joey’s comments are capitalized, and Ms Eaton’s are in lowercase. JOEY: FIRST YOU READ—THEN ME. THIS IS WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO. I READ AFTER YOU, OK? Ms Eaton: OK. [Ms Eaton begins.] “In the great green room there was a telephone, a red balloon, and a picture of…” Are you going to read, or what? YES.

“In the great green room there was…” Are you ready yet? Ready to read? OK. “IN THE GREAT GREEN ROOM…” “…there was…” “THERE WAS A…” [pauses, looking at Ms Eaton rather than at the words] “…a telephone…” YES, THAT’S IT, A TELEPHONE! “IN THE GREAT GREEN ROOM THERE WAS A TELEPHONE, A RED BALLOON…” “and a picture of…” “AND A PICTURE OF” [pauses, staring at the wall]…A COW JUMPING?” “a cow jumping over the moon”. “OVER MOON” [smiles from both Joey and Ms Eaton]. Joey, what does this say? [She points to the word telephone.] “THERE WAS A TELEPHONE”. How about here? [She points to next page, which reads “And there were three little bears, sitting on chairs”.] “THERE WERE BEARS, THREE BEARS, AND THEY SAT ON CHAIRS”.