Lets Talk A bout T alking !

1. Lets Talk About Talking! Learning through social constructivism GSSD Coaches Andrea Hnatiuk & Cindy Smith

2. We start and end on time • We are a community of professionals, we participate fully, encourage participation from others, and allow ourselves to be learners • We create a safe place to be heard, we can take risks • We respect everyone’s point of view • We use technology appropriately in the spirit of professional learning Our Professional Growth Commitment

3. Moss, C., & Brookhart, M. (2012). Learning targets: Helping students aim for understanding in today’s lesson. Alexandria: ASCD.

4. “Human thinking is inherently social in its origins…” • There is a “fundamental link between instructional practice and student outcomes” • -Marilyn Goos, Journal of Research in Mathematical Education, 2004 Research-Based Practice

5. Recognize and use connections among ideas • Understand how ideas interconnect and build on one another to produce a coherent whole • Recognize and apply learnings incontexts outside of school Connections

6. Organize and consolidate their ideas thinking through communication  • Communicate their learning coherently and clearly to peers, teachers, and others • Analyze and evaluate the thinking and strategies of others Communication

7. Students construct meaning for themselves • Students clarify their ideas • Students speak to each other and write about learning to reflect on their learning, self-monitor, and set goals • We can assess students by listening and reading their ideas and understandings. We inform our practice based on what we learn about student understanding Important Reasons to Promote Communicating

8. knowledge is constructed as the learner strives to organize his or her experiences in terms of pre-existingmental structures or schemas Piaget

9. For today’s young adolescents, success in school and, later in college or the workplace will demand critical thinking skills and the ability to function as a team member within highly complex social systems….Students who frequently learn within well-structured cooperative environments will be better prepared for the challenges of today’s world. • Igel & Urquhart, 2012

10. Positive outcomes of three seconds of undisturbed wait time (when questioning) • Length and correctness of responses increases • Number of “I don’t know” and “no answer” responses decreases • Number of volunteered appropriate answers increases • Student achievement increases • Teacher questioning quality, strategies and flexibility improve • Teachers ask higher level questions that require greater complexity of response

11. The secret to successful teaching is being able to determine what students are thinking and then using that information as the basis for instruction. • Teachers learn what students are thinking through student communication. • When students communicate…either orally or in writing, they make their thinking and understanding clear to others as well as to themselves. • -Ontario Ministry of Education

12. How can we create a classroom environment that fosters an atmosphere of safe contribution and values communication?

13. How do we allow students to freely participate? • Take ownership of their ideas • Honour each others contributions? • Understand that we need to make mistakes in order to learn? • Respect each others’ opinions and ideas? • Listen and dialogue with respect? • Persist? Class Norms

14. Give One Get One

15. Inside-Outside Circle

16. Talking Probes