Conversation: A Powerful Tool
By Wendy Sheets, Intermediate Literacy Trainer
After
spending three days in professional development with a group of amazing
literacy coaches recently, I can’t help but ponder the power of conversation. Over
and over, I heard remarks about appreciating having time to talk with other
professionals, to reflect upon successes and challenges, and to find
encouragement through those conversations. Sometimes we need to just listen to
others’ ideas as we process and synthesize what they’re saying. And at other
times, our own sharing helps us to clarify our beliefs, perhaps solving
problems or noticing new ones, and at times just affirming that our voices
matter. Isn’t that how we create meaning, either learning something new or shaping
what we already know? Conversation is powerful. “Essentially we are social
beings and our brains grow in a social environment…we often forge meaning
through socializing…Talking, sharing, and discussing are critical; we are
biologically wired for language and communicating with one another” (Jenson,
1998, p. 93).
Interactive
Read-Aloud
Once
effective talk is established during interactive read-aloud, readers naturally
progress to building deep conversations during book clubs. “When students
participate in book clubs, they talk, read, and often write in highly interactive
ways. The central idea is that greater insight can be achieved when several
people share their thinking, thus benefiting from each other’s understandings
and perspectives. The discussion takes the form of an investigation as
participants try out tentative ideas, search for information to confirm or
refute their thinking, and build on one another’s ideas” (Fountas & Pinnell,
2006, p. 280). Inquiring becomes habitual as readers probe the meaning of text
together. As meaning is constructed in a small group, readers achieve a greater
understanding, a lift, if you will, than they would have alone.
Writing
Conferences
There is
something very special about setting aside one-on-one time. My sons and I have
our best conversations when travelling alone for long distances in the car. I
think knowing we have the stretch of time, our talk is less inhibited, and
becomes more meaningful. During writing conferences, we also set aside a
special time, or meeting, to focus solely on one individual. We seek to
discover our student’s needs, reinforce their strengths, and provide support, all
the while lifting the writer, rather than the piece. And that needs to happen
through effective conversation. Carl Anderson suggests several different
conversational strategies for helping students talk about their writing (2000,
p. 97). He recommends redirecting when a student talks about the content of
their writing rather than their writing work. When students have some facility
with talking about their writing work, he suggests reflecting and pausing, showing
and describing, referring back to the last conference, and naming what is
observed. When students need much support with talking about their work, he
uses strategies to take a tour, describing what he thinks he sees the writer
doing, and then making suggestions by asking specific questions that create
options for the writer. Amplification allows him to demonstrate something while
naming it, such as the use of carets or a circular structure, and finally, he
asks for clarification when students need practice using writing discourse. Most
importantly, I think we need to remember that a writing conference is a
personal conversation that moves our writers forward. The work is generative, so
that the learning becomes a part of the writer’s repertoire to use again and
again.
Coaching
Conversations
I would be
remiss to leave out the power of conversation within a coaching context.
According to Lyons and Pinnell (2001, pgs. 141-12), “Coaching emerges from the
trusting context that surrounds the act of teaching…An effective coaching
conversation has five essential features:
1. It is tied to a specific event that
has just occurred.
2. It takes place in the context of the
teacher’s attempt to learn a specific technique or concept.
3. It makes use of specific teacher and
student actions as well as words.
4. It includes reciprocal reflection and
constructive dialogue between teacher and coach.
5. It results in new learning and a plan
of action to improve teaching.
The authors
go on to discuss the fact that a real conversation has give-and-take with both
participants making statements and asking questions, offering advice and help,
clarifying for each other, and sharing experiences and hunches. It is through
the wonderings, the hunches, that we become active learners.
Think
About It…Think about the conversations that take place in your life. Are they productive? Full of give-and-take? Do they help you to reflect and clarify, and do they lift others in their thinking? When we come together to share our ideas, all of our contributions are woven together into a beautiful tapestry that covers our thinking and pushes us beyond our own walls. This is what happened with the literacy coaches in our professional development session I mentioned earlier. The stage was set, the pump was primed. Voicing ideas was bound to happen and everyone went away feeling refreshed and renewed with strengthened understandings and greater intentions. Let’s work to create the right atmosphere for purposeful conversation in every context in which we live as readers and writers. Our brains will thank us.
References
Anderson, C. 2000. How's It Going? Portsmouth: Heinemann.
Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. 2006. Teaching For Comprehending and Fluency. Portsmouth:
Heinemann.
Jenson, E. 1998. Teaching With the Brain in Mind. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Lyons, C.A. & Pinnell, G.S. 2001. Systems For Change in Literacy Education: A Guide to
Professional Development. Portsmouth: Heinemann.
Nichols, M. 2006. Comprehension Through Conversation: The Power of Purposeful Talk in the
Reading Workshop. Portsmouth: Heinemann.
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