It’s worth investing time at the beginning of the school year to develop high-quality classroom talk. One key thing is that everyone agrees on some basics, such as:
We will show we are listening to the speaker.
We will ask questions to help us learn more.
We will support others with evidence, and politely challenge if we disagree.
Rather than simply imposing a set of rules, I like to give students time to discuss. Ways to do this include:
Give eight possible ‘rules’ and ask them to decide in small groups which five are the most important.
Have pupils rank the statements in order of most important to least important.
Ask pupils if they would modify any of the proposed rules.
Every idea counts?
It’s interesting and valuable to hear their thoughts. Here are some comments from children age 8-11 in Manchester:
We will all join in because all ideas lead to learning.
Every idea counts: We all learn from each other. All ideas lead to better learning…
I like that joining in is made the most important… you might have an idea that’s not what everyone else is thinking…
I struggle with ‘ALL’ – I don’t think I agree that all ideas lead to learning about the topic.
Everybody should join in so people can learn. If we don’t listen then we won’t learn!
Here’s a previous post about how a Talk Promise can impact on learning.
