It is amazing how many opportunities students have to share their thoughts and problem solve together. Ms. Moss provides the platforms for the conversations and prompts them to keep the conversations on track. The students are being "trained" in the art of respectfully disagreeing with a peer, sharing their own opinions, and describing their problem solving thought process in a meaningful way. When students are wondering about a peer's explanation, they use one of the question prompts that are on one of the anchor charts posted around the room. There are a number of questions that students use such as "Can you tell me how you know that?", "What is your evidence?" The students use academic language when they are speaking, as does Ms. Moss. She is not afraid to speak to the students using complex thoughts and words...she provides thorough explanations and uses words repeatedly so that students hear them and become familiar with them. (For example, words such as schema and stamina) As I am becoming accustomed to participating in conversations with these students, I am learning from them how to explain my reasoning and thought processes in meaningful ways and becoming less fearful of using higher level academic language....as long as there is a way to keep the ELLs in the loop.

Student Voice in Classroom

It is amazing how many opportunities students have to share their thoughts and problem solve together. Ms. Moss provides the platforms for the conversations and prompts them to keep the conversations on track. The students are being "trained" in the art of respectfully disagreeing with a peer, sharing their own opinions, and describing their problem solving thought process in a meaningful way. When students are wondering about a peer's explanation, they use one of the question prompts that are on one of the anchor charts posted around the room. There are a number of questions that students use such as "Can you tell me how you know that?", "What is your evidence?" The students use academic language when they are speaking, as does Ms. Moss. She is not afraid to speak to the students using complex thoughts and words...she provides thorough explanations and uses words repeatedly so that students hear them and become familiar with them. (For example, words such as schema and stamina) As I am becoming accustomed to participating in conversations with these students, I am learning from them how to explain my reasoning and thought processes in meaningful ways and becoming less fearful of using higher level academic language....as long as there is a way to keep the ELLs in the loop.