Why focus on these six Student Vital Actions?

Students talk about each other’s thinking.

All students participate.

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Students use academic language.

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What is a Teacher Move?

Explore Powerful Teacher Moves to support APT. Select from these six STUDENT VITAL ACTIONS to get started:

Students revise their thinking.

First Steps: Creating a Classoom Culture for APT

Students explain their thinking.

INDEX

ELLs produce language.

The lack of participation by groups of...

WHAT’S MY JOB?

All students participate (e.g., boys and girls, ELL and 
special needs students), not just the hand-raisers.

A LITTLE RESPECT

When particular students are identified as...

GOOD GROUPING

6 TIPS TO EXPLORE

WHAT WAS THAT?

One or two members of a group...

Equity requires participation.Explaining one's ideas and hearing the reactions of others promotes learning. In classrooms in which a few students do all the talking, these learning opportunities are distributed inequitably. Over time silent students may come to believe they are not expected to talk, and may disengage entirely. When all students are given the time to explain their thinking, a greater investment of every student in the instructional activity is demanded and rewarded, and the opportunity for students to serve as learning resources for each other is maximized.

FIND THE PATTERN

Mutual respect is a prerequisite for the collaboration...

Group work can be counterproductive if not...

Some students are naturally quiet. They may...

ALL IN

Teacher Tip:

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Allow students to contribute to the creation of classroom norms for respectful and productive discussions. Later, remind students that the class negotiated and arrived at a set of norms to which everyone must adhere. 

The move: 

Mutual respect is a prerequisite for the collaboration needed for many students to succeed. For students with negative experiences with schooling, developing this respect can be challenging but it is critical.

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The problem: 

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Many students come from homes and communities where there may be a playful level of “disrespect” that is considered normal and acceptable. Students may not feel respected when the norms of their home or community are considered unacceptable in the classroom. By showing a willingness to negotiate on some of these norms, students will feel more comfortable and participate more confidently.

During classroom discussions, ask students to repeat or rephrase what another student just said.  Design tasks that require all students to participate in order to complete the task.

The moves: 

Students must be active and engaged in classroom activities in order to learn. However it is not always apparent if a student is engaged or disengaged. 

Some students are naturally quiet. They may appear to be checked out during a class discussion, but may actually be engaged and thinking deeply about the conversation. These students may be helped to more actively participate by asking them if they’d like to share their thoughts.

Our race, gender, language and social status can cause blind spots in our teaching. Sometimes a trusted colleague observing a lesson can provide objective feedback on our practice.

Check to see if there are recognizable patterns between participation and prior achievement or social groups (e.g. ELL, race/ethnicity, or gender). Consult with colleagues who have more experience, knowledge or affinity with groups that are not consistently participating in your class. Ask a colleague to observe students in your class and see if they can identify any patterns of participation by student groups in your class.

The lack of participation by groups of students may be a symptom of an instructional blind spot. 

This move lets students know that in this class they are never “off the hook.” You and their classmates are always interested in their thinking, even if at the time their ideas may not seem correct. This move pushes students to articulate what they do know even if they can’t give a full answer. Thus it allows teachers to help students extend their thinking by asking them a question or giving a hint that can get them productively engaged. Often when students explain their confusion they begin to resolve it themselves.

Treat each student as a contributing thinker to the classroom discussion. Treat confusions and mistakes as belonging to everyone (not as a result of student characteristics). Hold students accountable to explain their thinking and share reasoning. When students are confused, ask them to show where they got lost or ask a question that can help them move forward (more than “I don’t get it” or “how do you do it”).

When particular students are identified as “the smart kids,” other students are inevitably seen as not so smart. Some students have learned that if they keep their eyes down and stay silent, no one will notice them. If they are called on, they respond, “I don’t know.” 

One or two members of a group often complete the tasks assigned to a group of four students. The student(s) who completed the task may have been able to do so because it was too easy, and the others didn’t learn anything while watching their more-ready peer(s). Social status among peers can also influence who leads and who is passive.

Roles might go beyond completing the shared task to include, for example, responsibility for making sure everyone has a chance to talk, or responsibility for summarizing what the group agrees and disagrees about. You might initially offer sentence frames and facilitate questions that enable and deepen group conversation. These should be deemphasized once students become effective collaborators so their discussions can be more authentic.  Being explicit about the specific task and product of the group can help group productivity.

Assign rotating roles, and provide routines for collaboration so that every student is actively engaged in each task, and has experience in all roles over time.

Use individual work to help students activate their prior knowledge Use partner work for giving as many students as possible a chance to share their thinking and to promote variety in ways of thinking. Use small group work for challenges that require or will be enriched by more students to contribute their thinking.  Use whole-class to introduce or spread ideas and to create a shared understanding at the completion of the task. 

Switch liberally between partner, small group and whole class structures in response to student learning needs. When many groups are stuck, have one group share an idea that can move the class forward.

Group work can be counterproductive if not well designed. Before creating groups and distributing tasks, consider if the task might be better designed for partner work.

Some students have trouble developing thoughtful explanations...

When students present an answer to the class...

LISTEN FOR IDEAS

Students can be hesitant to share ideas...

Sometimes students answer with one-word or unelaborated...

MAKE REASONING PUBLIC

Students explain their thinking (spontaneously or prompted by the teacher or another student).

ASK ANOTHER QUESTION

When students provide an incorrect answer, teachers...

FIND THE LOGIC

ELICIT ELABORATION

Logic connects sentences.A hallmark of the deeper understanding prioritized by 21st century standards is the ability to use evidence and reasoning to construct and defend an argument (this is what I claim or how I solved a problem and why it makes sense). Brief, single-sentence student utterances are generally insufficient for a viable argument. Teacher questioning can facilitate students’ logical thinking and explaining. Over time, students will begin to offer fuller explanations without prompting.

Students present an explanation that contains two...

TRY TO GENERALIZE

GET READY

Students often perceive tasks as isolated or...

7 TIPS TO EXPLORE

Students may believe that the purpose of speaking...

Being called upon to share an idea...

Students may believe that teachers are only...

TEAMWORK

FOSTER PRODUCTIVE DISCUSSION DYNAMICS

INTERESTING IDEAS

Students do not see helping others understand...

ALONE TOGETHER

Students learn by exploring their own and others’...

Students work in isolation even during group...

Students may not be aware that the...

EYES ON YOUR NEIGHBOR’S WORK

START SMALL

Understanding each other’s reasoning develops reasoning proficiency.Students learn by exploring their own and others' reasoning. Actively listening to peers promotes the cognitive flexibility that is so highly prized in college and career.

WELCOME CONJECTURES

Sometimes small group work may be unproductive...

QUOTE A CLASSMATE

POST-PRESENTATION QUESTION SESSIONS

Students need to learn to document their...

CLARITY THROUGH WRITING

INTERJECT NEW EXPERTISE

Students revise their thinking, and their written work includes revised explanations and justifications.

Students need to learn to interpret and...

Students need to value ideas for revision...

I DON’T GET IT

WRITTEN FEEDBACK

Revising explanations solidifies understanding.As students reasoning improves, they should be able to identify flaws in their own and others' thinking. Revising work as a routine matter leads to better work. 

Students need to learn to ask for clarification...

Academic language promotes precise thinking. To develop effective argumentation skills,  students must comprehend and produce the  academic language used to explain  and justify, including language that is  specific to the content area. 

Students use academic language (both general and discipline-specific).

IS THAT WHAT YOU MEANT?

Students offer a muddled response or do not...

Sometimes students don’t perceive the correspondence between...

FORTIFY A STUDENT STATEMENT

Incorporating academic language into an argument can...

TEACH THE VALUE OF PRECISE LANGUAGE 

5 TIPS TO EXPLORE

PROVIDE LANGUAGE SCAFFOLDS 

EVERYDAY LANGUAGE OK TO START

Some students don’t feel qualified to join...

Students can resist learning unfamiliar language when...

Students may be reluctant to share their...

When students are not fluent, they often...

Sometimes particular language modes are overutilized...

ELLs develop language through explanation.English learners may hesitate to speak in class precisely because their control of English is limited. But practice speaking allows them to become more proficient. Bridging the language barrier is important for ELLs to thrive in the types of classrooms promoted by 21st century standards.

TURN AND TALK

EXPRESS RELATIONSHIPS

English learners produce language that communicates ideas and reasoning, even when that language is imperfect.

It is challenging to understand the many...

MANY MODES

4 TIPS TO EXPLORE

CROSSOVER WORDS

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Students may be accustomed to providing a one-word or short phrase answer and having the teacher turn it into an “explanation.” These questions help to elicit student thinking and change their expectations. They need to know that you have the patience to give them the time they need to construct an explanation. 

Sometimes students answer with one-word or unelaborated responses.

Ask and encourage students to ask:  Can you tell me more about that? Why do you think that?How do you know? What changed and what stayed the same?

Ask a student who has given a wrong answer additional questions to explore his or her thinking. Demonstrate curiosity about that thinking. 

Moving on when a student gives a wrong answer signals that the teacher doesn’t think the student is capable of thinking and revising. If the student is genuinely stuck, expand the conversation to include others, but point out how valuable the wrong answer was in launching a productive learning opportunity. 

When students provide an incorrect answer, teachers sometimes move on to another student quickly in order to avoid embarrassing the student. 

Some students are much quicker than others. If some students are done and looking impatient, you might: A) ask them to prepare an explanation for a student 2 years younger; B) have cards on hand with weak arguments or wrong answers. You can have them choose a card and explain why the argument is weak or the answer is wrong; C) let them start on homework. 

Some students have trouble developing thoughtful explanations spontaneously. 

Students are given time to develop their ideas and prepare to explain their thinking so the other students can understand them.

Help students develop the language to express their ideas and keep the student thinking about the subject of the conversation. Students will be more willing to share their thinking when they know their ideas will be considered.

Pay attention to and engage with student thinking prior to sharing end products.

Students can be hesitant to share ideas "along the way” when they are working on a task but are not yet sure they have it right.

Ask and encourage students to ask:  How did you get that answer or arrive at that conclusion? 

When students present an answer to the class, they may perceive that they are responsible only for sharing a conclusion or answer instead of sharing the thinking and process that led to that conclusion or  answer.

Some students will have better arguments or more efficient problem solving strategies than others. Remaining neutral about the student’s approach allows all strategies to be considered before the benefits of some over others are called out. 

Ask and encourage students to ask:  Is it always true? Sometimes true? Have you seen this pattern before? 

Students often perceive tasks as isolated or unrelated activities. 

These questions may be helpful additions for students who work fast and begin to get bored. When they share their answers, you might ask a student who finds generalizing more challenging whether they understand the explanation. It contributes to a productive classroom culture if students are valued for being able to be clear enough for other students to understand. 

Students present an explanation that contains two statements that are not connected logically (but could be).

Ask and encourage students to ask: “You just said [sentence A] and [sentence B] (quote students work). Could you help me understand how these sentences are connected?”

In earlier grades in particular, students frequently assume that if something makes sense to them, it makes sense to others too. They need reminders that logic that connects their sentences needs to be clear if others are to understand. 

Show and discuss work generated by other students (problem solutions, written arguments, essays, etc.. Questions that may be used to prompt student are:  Did anyone approach this in a different way? How is your thinking different from Damien's? What does Julie’s way of thinking help you understand? Do you think Darryl's approach would work in this other situation? Why or why not?

If a suitable work sample is not available from a student, for example if no students are on the right track, use a fictional sample “from another class” and discuss that. 

Students talk about each others' thinking.

Students are not accustomed to learning from the work of their classmates, especially if they have completed a task themselves;  they are rarely aware of the value of thinking about a problem or issue in different ways. 

Students may believe that the purpose of speaking in class is to give the right answer. Initially, students may focus on evaluating the performances of their peers. It is an innovation for students to approach whole class discussions as opportunities for everybody to learn.

Assign students tasks that require responding to others’ thinking. (e.g. compare your idea/approach to Josiah’s. Identify the question you would ask Yesmin.)

It will help students learn from these experiences if they have concrete tasks to do during presentations that orient them toward learning. They also benefit from being held accountable for restating the thinking of others.  Some teachers find sentence frames to be helpful in focusing students on the thinking of their peers and in encouraging intellectual consideration (e.g., “your approach helps me understand...” “I agree with this part of your idea because...” “I don’t think your approach will work because... ”). Following an important contribution, ask: “Who can repeat that? Who can say that in their own words? Who can restate what Juan just said?”

Students may believe that teachers are only interested in the correctness of student answers. They will become more willing to share their thinking when they feel it is valued because it provides a learning opportunity. They will also be more likely to view their peers’ thinking in the same way.

Model the atmosphere of conjecture that you would like to see in the small groups by demonstrating a genuine interest in the thinking of all students. 

Tell students that you are evaluating the quality of their engagement with the group and make these evaluations transparent and synchronous . Students are likely to be focused on producing answers. Developing norms of collaboration can take practice and persistence. Students believe that what is important is evaluated. Therefore, evaluating their collaboration can help improve it, especially if the evaluations are transparent. 

Students may not be aware that the task they are working on can be approached in a variety of ways.

Call out students ideas about how to approach a problem as students are working. 

You can help students develop the language to express their ideas by giving them time to explain and offering them precise words to clarify their meaning.  Curiosity about various ways of approaching a task will help students become flexible thinkers. In upper grades students may need frequent demonstrations that you are genuinely interested in their thinking, not just their answers.

Being called upon to share an idea to an entire class or group can be overwhelming and prevent some students from focusing well on the question.

These practices give students a chance to develop their thinking in lower-stakes settings, and increase the quality of presentations so that others can learn from them. It can bring more voices into the conversation. This practice is similar to sharing drafts in a writer response group. 

Try these approaches from time to time: Ask students to work individually for a minute or so before sharing their thinking within their group.  Structure pairs and small group work so that students explain the thinking of their partner(s). Ask students to explain their thinking in their small group prior to whole class discussions.

Sometimes require sharing of scarce resources, (e.g. deliberately limit the number of task cards, manipulatives (in math and science), color-coded markers, clues or hints, etc., to make sharing necessary. 

Students work in isolation even during group activities.

Forcing students to share can help create a single object for group reflection. This move can be powerful for students that like to work alone. It is important to make sure resources and tools are shared equitably. You might want to assign one student the task of making sure sharing is equitable. 

Students do not see helping others understand as part of their work.

Sometimes when working in small groups or pairs, require groups to come up with a single shared explanation. Tell students that you will ask an unknown member of the group to explain the group’s answer. Everyone in the group must come to a consensus understanding and be able to articulate it, and the group will be judged by the answer of the unknown member. Also try only responding to questions from groups when nobody in the group can answer the question and everyone in the group can ask it.

It may seem frustrating to some students who work quickly to have to attend to the thinking of others. But research shows that the student explaining how they completed a task gains as much or more than the student being helped. 

This slows down the discussion and provides an opportunity for a student to revise their thinking orally. Sometimes it is useful to model what a good explanation looks like. It is critical that the teacher is respectful of the student work and models how to think about revision without judgment.

If a student is presenting an explanation, play the role of not understanding and say “Could you help me make sense of your thinking? Could you revise your explanation so I can better understand what you’re saying?”

Oral explanations by students can be rushed or difficult to understand for a variety of reasons.

This move makes a student who has understood something that is useful for the whole class into an expert, reinforcing the idea that students can be resources for each other’s learning.

Identify a student who seems to get the missing concept or information and have him or her explain their thinking to the whole class while the class is working in small groups.

Sometimes small group work may be unproductive because students don’t have the information needed. 

Quoting each other pushes students to listen to each other and process each other’s statements. This move prompts students to listen carefully to each other and evaluate their own and their peers’ words/statements.

When you see a student who has revised their argument based on another student’s comments, ask if they can quote the classmate’s statement that inspired the revision.

Students need to value ideas for revision offered by classmates. 

This move is about students' efforts to relate their way of thinking to the presentation and deepen their understanding. If students don’t spontaneously ask questions, you may want to prompt. “Is anyone unclear? You can ask Jessicato explain."

Students need to learn to ask for clarification to fill in any gaps related to another student's presentation or representation. 

Students ask questions following group presentations to help improve their own thinking.

Students need to learn to document their thinking in writing in a way that is understandable. Students are generally successful at aural argumentation earlier than they are successful at written argumentation. They will experience greater growth if they are asked to do both. 

Written explanations serve many purposes. Students who write for the above aims will get the most out of written explanations and revision.  At moments when you’d like students to record something in writing, you can call out “Stop and Jot!” as a cue. 

Students create written explanations and revise them to help clarify their thinking. Sharing creates opportunities to further improve their way of thinking. These practices also yield artifacts that students can refer to later to help with learning. 

(for upper elementary and above) Ask students to produce written explanations of their thinking. Then swap papers so that another student has an opportunity to give written feedback. Then swap back and ask the original student to write a revised version based on the feedback.  The same move can be done with partners or small groups. 

It is often difficult to revise without feedback. This move provides an opportunity for students to give each other feedback in writing. This feedback is then used to inform the revision of their thinking.

Students need to learn to interpret and incorporate written feedback provided by others. 

PROVIDE LANGUAGE SCAFFOLDS

Incorporating academic language into an argument can be challenging if a student is not familiar with, or comfortable using that  language.

Before beginning small group work, give students sentence frames and probing questions that feature important terms.

This move can provide a scaffold for students to use the desired terms in meaningful discussion. Have posters for the classroom that can prompt all students to use terms accurately.

Accept students’ everyday way of talking as a starting point for joining the conversation.

Some students don’t feel qualified to join a discussion, even though there should be no prerequisites for doing so. All students should be able to share their ideas. 

There is a balancing act to be done between encouraging precision and allowing students to feel comfortable talking. Consistent and prolonged engagement in discussions will lead to the addition of new vocabulary and discourse practices.

Play as if you do not understand student talk when the language used is imprecise in order to give students the opportunity to improve their explanations.

By taking what students say at face value, teachers can create a light-hearted joke that prompts the student to use more precise language.

Students offer a muddled response or do not use academic language when communicating an idea.

More Precise

Every time John Adams said what he thought, Thomas Jefferson disagreed with him. And then he would make a completely different argument.

He earned $10 per lawn mowed.

TEACH THE VALUE OF PRECISE LANGUAGE

Students can resist learning unfamiliar language when they don’t see the value of it.

He got another $10 every time he mowed the lawn.

Recognize and appreciate conciseness and precision in language. Call attention to the idea that this efficiency makes their work more understandable when it is initially presented to classmates and teachers.

John Adams and Thomas Jefferson made opposing arguments.

Learning new words serves a purpose. Academic language has distinctive communicative capacities. It is well-defined, shared, and makes it possible to say precisely what you mean. Mastering this language makes communication more precise, readily understood and supports access.  You may want to create a list on a poster of ways to say things that are more and less precise. You can add to the list as examples arise in class. If a student is imprecise, you might ask if there is a better way to say that. If they seem to be stuck, you can refer them to the poster, or add to the poster if nothing on it is helpful.

Okay

The temperature in the jar went up and down and up and down.

The temperature in the jar fluctuated.

Teachers can refer to student statements using some student language while strategically incorporating more precise academic language with the addition of a key word or phrase. Similarly, teachers can restate a student statement verbatim, then rephrase it for the class by replacing key words or phrases with more academic language while still crediting the student for offering the idea.

Sometimes students don’t perceive the correspondence between their everyday speech and academic language.

The goal is to get the students to take up the speaker’s idea in their discussions with the additional academic language. It represents an additive approach in which students are supported in developing new linguistic capacities. Over time the burden of being precise should shift to the student. But it’s important not to discourage talk by over-emphasizing precise language. 

When students are not fluent, they often use as few words as possible in an answer. Students need practice expressing relationships in words and may need time and support to do so.

Often teachers minimize the demands on English learners in order not to make them feel bad. While the intention is good, the consequence is that the student has less opportunity for growth. 

Take two words students can produce and help students to connect them. For example:  “What are you buying?” “Shirts.” “How much are they?” “Ten dollars.” “What can you tell me about the shirts and dollars?” You want them to express the relationship of “ten dollars per shirt” to connect the ideas. “Who had the power in the relationship?” “Char.” “What did she do to show that she had power?” “Told Malika to start a fire.” “What did Malika do when Char told her that?” “She lit the fire.” “Did Malika think it was a good idea to light the fire?” “So how do we know who had the power in the relationship?” “Char had power over Malika because she got her to do things that Malika didn’t want to do because she thought they were wrong.” 

English learners produce language.

It is much easier to understand the particular use of a word in a specific context than the general meaning. Give students the chance to construct the general meaning from multiple particular instances.  Using the words to communicate in meaningful contexts helps build understanding.

It is challenging to understand the many different uses of words like factor, negative, model, function, and others that have a different meaning in the disciplines than in general use. 

For important words, especially everyday words that have precise disciplinary meaning, provide multiple contexts where the word is useful and have students explain what it refers to in that context. Ask them to use the word to make connections between the different representations.

Students may be reluctant to share their ideas with the class, especially when they are learning a new language and uncertain about what to say.

Giving students encouragement to talk without requiring polished answers can make it easier to share ideas. The goal is for all students to share their thinking.

Asking students to "turn and talk" during whole class discussions will give students a chance to practice what they could say to the class. A turn and talk also gives a teacher time to notice who is not talking, and to circulate and ask a silent partner what they think. 

Every student speaks, listens, reads, and writes.

Sometimes particular language modes are overutilized during instruction.

Language develops most readily when all four modes are engaged. Academic success requires proficiency in all four modes. Students can engage in each mode at their level and will improve when the modes are connected to a meaningful process.

“Performance oriented” students feel a drive...

Students may not know what you’re expecting...

Students believe that if getting an answer correct means...

Students accustomed to directing answers to the teacher often...

Many students (and adults) are not accustomed...

GIVE THEM A MINUTE

Learning through talk will be unfamiliar to many students, and their usual behaviors and expectations may be obstacles to productive talk. These tips address these obstacles. 

First Steps: Creating a Classroom Culture

LEARN TO LISTEN; LISTEN TO LEARN 

Students vary widely in the rate at which...

BE A “LEARN IT ALL”

YOU’RE THE EXPERT 

GIVE THEM A CHANCE

LEARN TO EXPLAIN; EXPLAIN TO LEARN

BE A ROLE MODEL

EFFORT OVER SMARTS

TALK TO THE CLASS

9 TIPS TO EXPLORE

Many students think of talking in class as...

For some students, talking in class will feel...

Students (and teachers) are accustomed to thinking...

Students’ actions are influenced by the classroom culture and the teacher’s leadership. A teacher plans, assigns, prompts, spots trouble and responds, sees opportunities and seizes them, sees disengagement and re-engages. When a teacher acts to make a teaching episode productive, we refer to the teacher action as "a move.” Every teacher has a repertoire of moves that serve different purposes in different situations.  This resource lists a selection of teacher moves that promote the six student vital actions. Teacher moves can make lessons flow toward the learning goal and keep students with a variety of dispositions and prior knowledge engaged in the discussion. Teacher moves also advance the discussion from initial ways of thinking toward the targeted ways of thinking. Which move should a teacher use? It depends on the purpose and the circumstance. Often, more than one move is worth trying. If one doesn’t work, try another. Good teaching entails paying attention to students’ actions and responding.

What is a Teacher Move?

When the goal is to have students learn by engaging in academically productive talk (APT), the focus shifts from what the teacher is doing to what the students are doing. But the teacher’s role is at least as important as when the teacher is doing the talking. Teachers must know what to look for in student interactions—what we call student vital actions—and how to respond to and encourage these actions. This resource is intended to support teachers in doing just this. This resource for teachers focuses on six student actions that are vital to an equitable and effective learning environment characterized by frequent student discourse. The six student vital actions that are the focus of this resource are easy to spot in a classroom. But it is far from easy to create a classroom in which these vital actions are commonplace! The APT Tip Deck is designed to help teachers, and those who work with teachers, to make small shifts in practice that cumulatively will lead to the kind of instructional environments in which academically productive talk is  frequently observed.  

Why focus on these six Student Vital Actions?

View the previous version

About this resource...   This resources is adapted from SERP work with Bay Area district partners (San Francisco Unified and Oakland Unified School Districts), where the work was focused on mathematics.  The vital actions are intended to be catalytic rather than comprehensive. There are many other things students do to learn, but these are concrete, observable, and leverage related important learning actions—the very actions that would be observable in a classroom characterized by academically productive talk, and committed to inclusivity. 

TALK TO THE CLASS The problem: Students accustomed to directing answers to the teacher often do not speak loudly enough for all of their classmates to hear.   The move: Have students address their peers when they explain their thinking. Teacher Tip: You can check with a student far away from the speaker whether they were able to hear what the speaker said. You might also consider having students stand and face other students when they are explaining their thinking. Some teachers say “stand tall protocol” to gently remind students to stand and talk to their peers. When a student is naturally shy or when they are thinking about their explanation, they can easily slip into the habit of talking to the teacher rather than to their classmates. Don’t be surprised if you have to repeat that phrase many, many times! 

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FIRST STEPS: Creating a Classroom Culture

LEARN TO LISTEN; LISTEN TO LEARN  The problem: Many students (and adults) are not accustomed to listening carefully. But they can be trained to listen, and they will become better at it if they know they could be asked at any time to respond to what another student said. The move: Ask another student to put what was just said in their own words. Teacher Tip: Initially this will often require that the first student repeat what they said. You may quite naturally feel that it’s a waste of time to have students repeat and rephrase. But it is an investment that pays off as students begin to listen on their own. At that point rephrasing can be dropped, and you will have a stronger learning community of good listeners.  

YOU’RE THE EXPERT  The problem: For some students, talking in class will feel risky because they don’t want to be caught not knowing the answer. If the student is asked a question for which there is one right answer, this fear may be activated and the student may fall silent.  The move: Ask questions for which the student will reliably have a response, such as “what do you think?” or “what did you do?” Teacher Tip: Students may not trust initially that you really want to know how they think or how they went about their work. If they say “I don’t know,” you can remind them they are the expert on their own thoughts.  

GIVE THEM A MINUTE The problem: Students vary widely in the rate at which they process information and are ready to give an answer. And not all students are comfortable speaking extemporaneously about their thinking. The move: For questions requiring deeper thought, give students time to prepare to share their thinking before they are expected to talk. Teacher Tip: Students who process information quickly and are accustomed to waiving their hands and giving answers may feel impatient. You might give them an additional challenge, such as “if you think you have a good answer, write an explanation that you think a younger student could understand.”  

BE A ROLE MODEL The problem: Students may not know what you’re expecting from them when you ask how they are thinking about a problem because they aren’t accustomed to talking about their thinking.   The move: Demonstrate for students by “thinking aloud,” testing out ideas, and revising your thinking. Teacher Tip: If there are English learners in your classroom, it will help them if you pay particular attention to the vocabulary and sentence structures that may be more challenging for them as you model thinking aloud.

GIVE THEM A CHANCE The problem: Students (and teachers) are accustomed to thinking of the teacher as the person with answers. The idea that students are resources themselves in a community of learners will need to be actively established. This move makes the classroom a community of learners that raises questions and seek answers together. It creates opportunities for students to feel competent.  The move: Challenge students to try to answer the questions that their peers ask of you. Teacher Tip: After asking the class if one of them can explain to the questioning student, it may be helpful to ask the questioner to repeat the question so all students hear it. As your class becomes better at listening and at speaking up, this may not be necessary.  

BE A “LEARN IT ALL” The problem: Many students think of talking in class as an occasion to show off what they know. It will take deliberate effort to change the culture so that being a “learn it all” is prized over being a “know it all."  The move: Demonstrate with think-alouds the process of making sense of texts or problems, testing out ideas and revising. Teacher Tip: Play at showing confusion to demonstrate how sense-making really works. The purpose of modeling is to show students that constructing an understanding or solving a problem can be a bit messy. 

EFFORT OVER SMARTS The problem: Students believe that if getting an answer correct means they are smart, then getting an answer wrong demonstrates they are not smart.  The move: Do not praise intelligence. Do praise effort.  Teacher Tip: Draw attention to the value in considering and learning from mistakes. 

LEARN TO EXPLAIN, EXPLAIN TO LEARN The problem: “Performance oriented” students feel a drive to be “right” while “mastery oriented” students are driven to understand.  In the right environment students can become more mastery oriented. They can be helped to make that transition if they know that the “performance” you are after is being good at explaining their thinking, regardless of whether the answer is right. It is important that students see talking in class  as an opportunity to learn and to help others learn. The move: Tell students that explaining their ideas helps them learn and helps their classmates learn as well. Teacher Tip: When students give answers that are correct but are not fully explained, you might ask another student if what the speaker said makes sense to them. If not, ask the student to try explaining again so that the other student can understand. You may want to let the second student ask the first student clarifying questions.

All the tips included in this resources are listed and linked below.

I DON'T GET IT

EXPRESS RELATIONSHIPS