9 Comments
Oct 3, 2023Liked by Craig Barton

This is HUGE! It makes me wonder how many times I did just that, where i did the hard work and the students let me. Of course, it is a good way to show off that I know the answer! Can't think why else I would do such a thing.

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Me too! I think it feels far nicer in the moment than pushing the student for the answer, which can be both time consuming and uncomfortable for all! But it is so important to do so

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Oct 3, 2023·edited Oct 3, 2023Liked by Craig Barton

I don't read the blog religiously, but of all the posts I've read so far, this one has to be the most impactful.

Not so much example 2, as I've already learned not to let them off the hook, but example 1... yes, I do this a lot! I hadn't considered that it's a problem. I always thought that I was helping clarify the process in the student's mind. Thanks so much, this is definitely something for me to think about and will likely revolutionise the way I teach!

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Ah, thanks Mike! Yes, it’s tricky to avoid doing it, but good to be aware of it!

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Oct 3, 2023Liked by Craig Barton

I definitely try my best with the first one of improving answers if it’s not totally correct or shows a lack of understanding. So prompting them to improve their response. The second example I think I’m definitely prone to falling back to doing this at times so thank you for drawing my attention to it again!

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I’m super guilty of the second one too!

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Oct 3, 2023Liked by Craig Barton

I wish i could start all over again, and try to be better at it this time.

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I think this is a good start, but could this be developed next week into how we could ensure that we keep the whole class engaged and actively listening whilst this is happening. There is a lot of attention on just one student in these conversations.

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author

You are right. As I say in the post checks for listening after the initial dialogue are key: "Tom, what did Molly say?", etc. The classroom norm needs to be that everyone listens to each other.

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