Kieu's Graves CH 4 & 5

A lot of people tend to think a quiet classroom is a productive classroom. While that is true in some cases, there are many instances where it is most beneficial for the students to talk and work amongst themselves. Like in Mr. Bangs's situation... I think it's everyone initial goal to run a tight ship where the students are following all the rules and quietly working at their tables without ever getting up to move about. Admittedly, that is how I think about running my classes sometimes. I have this image of other teachers and possibly even the principal walking by my class and seeing my kids walking around the classroom and talking to each other. However, I am learning that there is a difference between a classroom where the students are just sitting around talking about nothing and one where the whole class is working cooperatively. I think as the "grown up" in the classroom, we tend to underestimate our kids' abilities. In my experiences working with younger children and teens, they have proven me wrong many times. I really like the idea of whole class discussions where everything is laid out to be cut into pieces and put back together and I like the idea of students helping each other, especially if I am busy with another student.

Chapter 5 seems to be something that we have read and talked about a million times already, so it kinda served as a review for me. Let's hope that we are all pros at writer workshops by the time we are done here!