Feb 7ths readings Tim K

I liked this week in the readings the about discussion and recitation. I always just viewed discussion and recitation as kind of the same thing. I like discussions more in the classroom setting because it is something that allows students to answer when they want to. Also if a discussion is run properly it can allow a teacher to cover the material they want to and maybe other topics. Another thing that a discussion does is that it allows students to maybe have questions answered that they did not know or they may see which student agree with what they are saying. A big thing that I like about discussions is that it gives student more of a chance to apply the materials to their own lives. I noticed this in my classs that I am in right now. When my CT holds a discussion student tend to start answering how when they saw the same type of situation in their own life. Sometimes my CT does in fact ask them to think about it but it is interesting to see them get to it on their own.

My CT seems to use discussion as much as she can. At times it seems like when she asks a question there is just silence. Which I have found that it depends on the types of questions that one asks will set how the rest of the discussion goes. If a question seems to be like a “yes” or “no” then the students will give you yes or no. I also found that it is not the most effective to say when a student answers that way to follow it up with asking “why?” When this happens a student seems to stall and not realize what is going on since they did not have time to really think. I think as a teacher I will try to avoid putting the spotlight on like that and make them think about what they are going to say so they can be confident in what they are saying.