Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Envisioning Language as a Spyglass

Written by Gina Applegate, Kelly Mowrer and Rebecca DeSantis

The one thing that struck us was "that change requires work." This was a striking statement that leads the rest of the chapter, because not only are we going to help our students change, by providing them to see themselves achieving, but also we, as teachers, will be changing our view/way of speaking to our students. This will be work for all of us.

Paula Denton says that because she is writing this in the 21st century and the focus is on standardized testing, that in order for teachers to try and help them in academics is to make them feel more comfortable in school. For most of our students, academic success is not something that they desire or feel value from. We as teachers need to speak to them, making them feel comfortable in school, have fun at school and in turn become successful in school.

An example of a statement that we all thought was something that we could use, instead of reprimanding students for not listening, is something like this, "We can do our best learning when we are careful listeners." Here Paula Denton says that when you use an envisioning statement like this, you are not only setting a clear goal for the students to be careful listeners, you in turn make the students intrigued and want to become this image themselves. She also says to be careful when making these envisioning statements. You need to remember that it takes practice and time to make these statements. One other thing to remember is to not compare a positive to a negative, i.e.: good listeners to bad listeners. Another suggestion is to use concrete images and words that your students use. This way they will be able to relate more to your statement. She wants teachers to remember metaphors excite the students. So try to use them in your statements. And the last suggestion that she makes is to allow the students to fill in the details. Students will be more motivated to work harder to become the student that they want to become by, yes, working harder and making a little change. Which, in turn, brings us back to the beginning statement that we were initially drawn to...."that change requires work."

Chapter 1

First off, a hello to our newest followers: Rebecca, Kelly and Jeff! Welcome.....make yourself at home!

This next blog post will focus on Chapter 1 in the book, The Power of Our Words.

The chapter starts by mentioning five general guidelines for the use of teacher language:

1 - Be direct and authentic.

2 - Show faith in children's abilities and intentions.

3 - Keep it action oriented.

4 - Keep it brief.

5 - Know when to be silent.

Let's discuss each of those guidelines.

Be direct and authentic:

Basically we need to say what we mean and mean what we say. By doing this, the students in our class will trust and respect us. We need to use direct language when speaking to the children in our class. The example mentioned a teacher using indirect language, "I like the way Gregg and Marta are sitting", while eyeing up other students who are not sitting quietly on the carpet. I don't know about you, but I immediately saw myself in that example! I say that all the time to my students to get the attention of those who are not doing what they should be doing. The author mentions how these words were useless...most of the class will begin to ignore you if you say these words. The other thing the author mentioned was when teachers address the class in the form of a question and how you should not do that.

The author also says that we need to select an appropriate tone of voice when speaking to our students. We need to speak to them in a warm and direct tone of voice, indicating exactly what it is that we want them to do.

Also, the author mentions that we need to be careful of sarcasm slipping in to our words. I know that I am guilty of doing this sometimes. We don't want to confuse the children...they might not know exactly what we mean.

The author mentions following through on our words. If we say we are going to do something, then we need to do it. If our kids know that we are going to follow through on what we told them, they will take us more seriously.

Next, the author mentions staying away from over-generalizations. Instead of telling the students that "This is going to be fun", speak to them in the first person, telling them, "Some of you may find this to be fun."

Lastly, the author says we need to be aware of the signals our body is sending. Watch your body language folks! Simple things such as your hands on your hips or making a face might convey the wrong message to your students.

Show faith in children's abilities and intentions:

The book states that we need to take time to notice the positive things. We need to be observant to the little things that kids do, letting the kids know that we have faith in them.

One thing the book states that we should avoid is baby talk. Sometimes we do this without realizing it! We might make our voice all sing-songy or speak to the children using mispronounced words. We should leave this talk for when we want to communicate with babies. If we speak to school age children this way, they might not think we take them seriously.

One more thing the book mentions in this section is to be aware of language patterns that treat boys and girls differently. These differences are probably done unconsciously. We should really listen to the way we speak to the students, to make sure we are being fair to both genders. One idea mentioned in the book was to have a peer come in and observe you teach, an idea that maybe we can all benefit from.

Keep it action oriented:

The author mentions that as teachers, we need to connect the abstract terms with the concrete behavior in our classrooms. As teachers, we know that kids learn best through concrete interactions. Our job is to connect our words to the concrete actions, so that children can connect the two together. Rather than telling kids that someone is "disrespectful", we need to provide something specific, like "Remember to use a happy face and kind words".....the children can relate to those specifics so much better.

Also, the author mentions that we need to describe the behavior of the students, not their character or their attitude. If we need to change the behavior of a particular child, we need to name that certain behavior. We have to describe the unwanted behavior so the child will know exactly what needs to be changed.

Another thing mentioned by the author, we need to keep the wording nonjudgmental. Don't assume the child is acting a certain way for a reason. We don't want to make accusations, as that may have a detrimental effect on the relationship between us and our students...and it probably will not change the unwanted behavior.

Keep it brief:

It's hard for our students to follow our words when we use long sentences. Short and sweet is what we need. Really long and drawn out explanations are going to confuse the children. The kids in our class have a very short attention span. We will lose most of them if we keep going on and on about the same topic.

The author also mentions that we should leave out the warnings. Don't continually tell them "if you don't stop that behavior, we all might lose our recess to review our rules." Warnings might produce a negative relationship between the teacher and the students. The students might see the actual reviewing of those rules as a negative thing. If we need to review rules, then just do it, but we should not use it as a threat.

Know when to be silent:

Silence can be a powerful tool in a classroom. The children need time to think, time to speak, time to gather their thoughts. One of the most important thing to consider is allowing wait time. I remember a teacher in-service years ago when Martha Menz discussed wait time with our students. Teachers should wait about three to five seconds before calling on a student for their response. It might feel like a long time, but it really isn't. More students might answer and by doing this, we allow our students to use their higher order thinking skills. A good idea is that teachers model the thinking...take time to show the children how to pause and gather our thoughts before answering. They will begin to follow our lead.

The author states that we need to listen to what our students have to say. We talk all the time, we need to allow time for our students to talk and discuss the topic at hand. I know that sometimes (when I am watching the clock), I tend to finish a child's sentence for him or her....especially if I am trying to rush them along to finish their thoughts. This will take some practice for me!

Another thing the author states is that we should refrain from repeating directions. I think this means when it comes to simple routines in the classroom, like packing up procedures. It does not mean if you are doing some class work and you witness a student struggling with a particular task, you don't want to ignore them, you should assist them. The author states that there is a difference between helping a student to figure something out and repeating directions.

Finally the author mentions that we should resist the temptation to use voice-overs. A voice-over is repeating the student's response right after it is said. (Again, I am guilty of this!) We sometimes do this to affirm the answer that the student just gave, but we are giving the wrong message to the children. They might think the words are only important if we utter them, since we repeated the same exact thing that the child just said. Allow the child's words to stand on their own!

A very informative and jam-packed chapter! More things for me to work on! Deliberate practice......deliberate practice......deliberate practice!!!

Introduction - August 9

Hi everyone!

Welcome to our newest followers - Kristie, Jen and Katie!! And to those of you who stop by and view the blog, don't forget to post a comment or click "follow this blog", so that we know you are here too!! We want to make sure we include everyone who stops by!

Now...on to our book - The Power of Our Words. I figured it would be easier to write a blog post for each section of the book. Feel free to chime in and comment whenever you would like to!

I just finished reading the introduction to the book.....it was a very informative overview! My initial reaction (and I mentioned this in a previous post) was that I am going to have to make effective teacher language my deliberate practice for this coming school year. The first examples that the author gave in this section mentioned two different scenarios - one classroom had a teacher (Ms. Gibbs) who rang a chime and a delivered a very effective statement, "I see that everyone is ready for Math. Let's get started.".....the second classroom teacher used a louder voice to be heard over her students and she exclaimed, "Okay settle down, everyone! Social time is over. We have to get to work on Math now." Upon reading this, I immediately saw myself in the second teacher....I know for a fact that I have said those very same words many times. The author states how both teachers were responding to the very same situation and were attempting to get their students ready for the next part of their day.....but the words they used were sending very different messages to their students. The second teacher was giving the message that "we now have to stop something fun (talking to our friends) and start something not as fun (Math)".....the first teacher (Ms. Gibbs) gave the students the impression that "it is time for all of us to work together." Her effective use of the chime added to her ability to send a clear message to her students. As I read through both of these examples, I found myself reflecting on my own teacher language....and how what I thought was effective language with my students was probably not.

In the next section of the introduction, the author quotes psychologist Lev Vygotsky: "Language actually shapes thoughts, feelings and experiences. It produces fundamentally new forms of behavior." The author states that this is done in several different ways:

~ Language Molds Our Sense Of Who We Are

~ Language Helps Us Understand How We Think, Work And Play

~ Language Influences The Nature Of Our Relationships

Let's discuss each of those sections.

Language Molds Our Sense Of Who We Are: The words that we use help to shape and determine who we are. What we say to other people can greatly affect who they are and who they might become in the future. The author gives the example of her friend, Don, who loved to sing and how the music teacher suggested that he move to the back row of the choir and only mouth the words, instead of actually singing them. That teacher used words that prevented Don from following through with an interest that he enjoyed. Instead of giving him helpful suggestions on how to sing better, or helping him by giving him extra practice sessions on how to improve his singing, the teacher basically "squashed" Don's dreams of being a singer. She could have used different sentences that would have allowed Don to improve his singing. Her words definitely had a lasting effect on him.

Language Helps Us Understand How We Think, Work And Play: The author gives an example in this particular part about how one of her own teachers makes a comment about how she "takes a very intuitive approach to teaching." Paula Denton spends a lot of time reflecting on this statement, as she never really thought of herself as being intuitive in her teaching. Just as her own teacher got her to thinking about one of her own strengths, one that she didn't even realize, we can use words that can help our own students to realize their own strengths. I know that many of us will say "Good job!" or "Way to go!" when our students proudly hold up their classroom work for us to see....I know that I do it everyday. Our time with our students is carefully structured and we all work hard to keep things moving on what we are supposed to be doing....so a quick response like "Good job" seems like an appropriate thing to say. But after reading this section, I now realize that our little Kindergarten kids are proudly holding up their work for us to see and when we say "Good job", we aren't really expressing what exactly we like about their work. We need to be more specific in our compliments. "I really like the way you remembered to use an uppercase latter at the beginning of your sentence."...."I am very impressed with the spaces you left between your words."...."I notice that you are working very hard on forming your "5"s the correct way!" (Again, I will be working on this - deliberate practice - who is there with me??!!!) When we compliment a specific skill that our students are working on, our students will be impacted in a much more positive way.

Language Influences The Nature Of Our Relationships: The author states that the words we use and the tone of our voices greatly impact the relationship that we have with our students. She mentions the example of a school "bully" named Jim. She explains that initially she would resort to threats and punishments when dealing with Jim, but one day, after witnessing him pushing some other children, she pulled Jim aside and asked him to explain how things were from his side. She assured him that she wanted to help, but needed him to explain things from his point of view. Jim didn't stop being a bully, but he did develop more of a sense of trust with his teacher that year, because she took the time to listen to him. Our words will help our students to develop important relationships with us, with their peers and with themselves. We all work hard each year to develop a sense of community in our classrooms through our Morning Meetings. As teachers we need to develop a sense of respect, cooperation and trust.

In the next part of the introduction, the author mentions the goals of teacher language. Effective teacher language will help to assist our students in three main areas:

~ Developing Self Control

~ Building A Sense Of Community

~ Gaining Academic Skills and Knowledge

It is important that as teachers, we use effective teacher language as a tool to help develop each of these areas for our students.

Developing Self Control: The thing that jumped out the most for me in this section is that as teachers, we want our students to learn self control. Children are not born with self control, they need to be taught how to be aware of themselves. Our job as teachers is to help them on this road to developing self control. That role is especially important for us as Kindergarten teachers...we are teaching our kids during the first formal year of being in school and we can only assume that most of the children we teach have little or no self control when they step into our classrooms. We need to provide them with countless opportunities to develop their sense of self control through modeling, questions and examples. The language that we use during this time is of the utmost importance. We are laying the foundation for these children that we teach. We need to focus on positive behaviors and use teacher language that will be effective and specific.

Building A Sense Of Community: At the K-Center, we all work very hard on developing a sense of community in our classrooms. We all start our day with our Morning Meetings and from the start of the school year, we all work hard on working together as a team. We teach our students to listen to each other (only one person speaks at a time), to cooperate, to encourage each other and to help to create our own classroom rules. I believe that this is definitely one of our strong points at the K-Center.

Gaining Academic Skills and Knowledge: A great deal of our daily language helps our students to develop the skills that they are learning in our classrooms each and everyday. We encourage them to use higher order thinking skills and reflect on their work. By modeling effective language, we are teaching the children how to use this same language with each other. Before we know it, our students will be speaking to each other in the same manner that we are speaking to them. Rather than the usual "Good job", we might even hear our students give specific reasons why they like the work of their peers.

The final section of the introduction discusses the actual process of changing our language. For some teachers, especially those who have been teaching for a long time (raises hand!), changing the way we speak to our students might be difficult and/or uncomfortable. Fortunately for those of us who may find this change uncomfortable, there is an appendix at the back of the book to assist us in changing the way we speak to our students. It might not happen overnight, but when we start making a conscious effort to improve our teacher language (deliberate practice), it will eventually become easier and easier as the school year progresses. Our students will benefit in the long run.....and as the author states, "better language makes us better teachers and our students better learners."

Overall, I found the introduction to be filled with lots of interesting facts, examples and statements. I really got a lot out of it and I am looking forward to the next chapter!

Please, please, please....add your comments/thoughts/statements, etc. below!! We all would love to "hear" what you have to say!!