Excellent post by Pernille Ripp

Pernille Ripp nails it once again!

Points in the article that stood out to me (without saying 'EVERYTHING'):

• Where I thought deep engagement was almost always quiet.  Punctuated by brief answers facilitated by me to check for understanding.

• Where I thought that if only I could get them to listen, then they would learn.

• If only they would stop talking then they would really understand.

• if only one child answered then surely that was engagement.

And this, in particular, made me scream, "ME TOO!!!!"

While I see many teachers embrace the “turn and talk” I wonder how often that’s it for student talk.  I am guilty of this thinking;  as long as they turn and talk then surely there was student engagement and yet I have found that in my eagerness to get to the next thing, I have often cut off the kids from going deeper in their conversations.  I am working, therefore, on seeing where it goes and following along when we can.