Tuesday, December 13, 2011

The Power of a Question

"Cause I know the power of a question," shouts Rage Against the Machine songwriter Zack De La Rocha and advocating revolution; however can we extend this idea with students in our classroom? "How do we become strong readers?" This might be an essential question that can be explored to frame a particular unit. We as teachers must become strong facilitators of dialogue and discourse in our classrooms. We have opportunities to allow students to express ideas, challenge the opinions of others and develop a classroom environment where healthy conversation can exist. To begin to answer this question and to explore the others inherit in this framing question, lets begin by thinking about how are we as facilitators in our own classrooms? Can we create a forum for all voices to be heard without students speaking over one another?