Double Entry Journal #12

3 Things I Learned:
1. The construction of any "institution" implies that communication is taking place between various people for a common purpose. I never thought of an institution in this manner before.
2. Language communicates control. I have thought that language and communication is powerful but I never considered language a way to show, establish, or communicate control.
3. "The three-part sequence of teacher initiation, student response, teacher evaluation (IRE) is the most common pattern of classroom discourse at all grade levels.

2 Things I Found Interesting:
1. The IRE structure of discourse set up an imbalance of power in a number of ways. First because everything is teacher initiated showing that teachers can speak at any time but the students must wait on the teacher to let them speak. It also says that the teacher knows what knowledge is important and what will be learned.
2. Characteristics of effective questioning:
clear
purposeful
brief
natural and adapted to the level of the class
sequenced thought provoking

1 Question I have:
How can we best balance a teacher initiated questioning format with a student centered approach to create the best learning situation?