NYTimes series on teaching and learning

The New York Times regular series on classroom observations by high school teachers is a great source of inspiration for people interested in learning and techniques for improving learning. Here's how Bill Evans describes classroom discussion:

My classes are a kind of feudal democracy. In the classroom, I reign – at least theoretically. I pretty much organize things and direct, piping in as needed. But I generally try to get the kids to run the show. I try to draw important points that I want made out of their own observations and opinions, and many times they come up with truly brilliant things about the text that I’ve never even considered. During discussion, everybody gets to speak. If faced with a sea of hands, I order the flow. “O.K., you, then you, then you, then you, then me, then you, then you.” When faced with less than a sea or no sea, I call on people. That’s the beauty of the highlighted passages. During discussion, I can always ask a quieter participant to pick something they’ve highlighted and share it. I really try not to put people on the spot. I tend to warn people before I call on them. If a student really has nothing to say, I try to get him or her off the hook. “You know what? Think about it, and we’ll come back to you.”

I like that line, "Think about it, and we'll come back to you." A nice one to commit to memory. I remember a visiting prof. who gave a seminar at SCU... after every question from the audience, no matter what it was, he always started with a riff on, "That's a great observation, and..."