Hello and welcome to our blog!

The three of us have created this blog to share our research on Classroom Talk. Read more about us as individuals below! To visit a website about Classroom talk, click here.

I am Janessa Davis, and as a pre-service teacher, I am currently in my second semester of practicum. As a former Biology major, I have grown in my knowledge base and love for the sciences, and decided to make this my concentration to supplement my current Inclusive Childhood Education major. I am actually in a 6th grade science classroom for my practicum experience, and I love it! One of my favorite aspects of this type of discipline is the need to ask questions. I have been able to learn so much about asking questions as a form of scaffolding to help students with their own discovery of concepts. As a future teaching professional, my goals are to incorporate mindfulness, make learning fun, and foster agency in students. In relation to classroom talk, I believe that the way in which we talk to one another as well as how we talk about certain things has a huge impact on what we think and how we think. To incorporate mindfulness, certain characteristics of classroom talk (such as contingency) are necessary. I also believe that the way we speak impacts how exciting a topic can be. If the teacher isn’t too excited about the material… why would students be? Lastly, communication and classroom talk have so much influence on student agency. Being a self starter and being able to communicate in general is so important in life within school and beyond.

Hi! I am Katie Zirilli. Ever since I can remember, I have wanted to be a teacher. Teaching has been my long-term goal since I was in second grade. I have been greatly impacted by my teachers throughout the years, and they have inspired me to want to become a teacher who influences young lives. I am currently pursuing my dream as I major in Inclusive Childhood Education and Math. Getting hands-on experience in the classroom this semester is showing me who I am as an emerging educator. As a future teacher, I want to find fun, interactive ways for students to engage with me and each other so they do not have to sit still for so long. I have learned how important classroom talk is as my fifth graders’ attention span is about ten minutes long and they stay engaged for longer when their are opportunities for them to talk to their peers. My goal for my future classroom is to find lots of ways to teach my students while incorporating lots of opportunities to do more than just listen to me lecture. I want to encourage my students to ask questions and model good questions each day as I ask students to engage critically with the material.

What’s up my fellow readers, I am Jordan Holmes the best blogger in Houghton. I just recently found out that I want to pursue teaching as my career. I always liked the social aspect of school, but never really liked sitting through class and learning outside of math and science classes because of the creative thinking it made me do. I really never even thought I would ever get into the teaching profession until I thought about what I would not only be good at, but enjoy. Then it clicked when I was coaching a basketball camp for little kids and I realized I had a knack for connecting with children and I have fun doing it. I am an ICE major with a math/science concentration which I believe is going to suit me perfectly. I am currently in a second grade classroom for my practicum internship and I love every second of it, even when I am secretly begging for a nap. This experience has given me a real look at what it takes to be an educator of the young. As a future educator, my goals are to create a culture of unity within my classroom, to make learning fun for my students and to become someone whom my students can look up to (literally and metaphorically). I will promote listening to one another and trying new things within my classroom. These goals will fuel me to become the best teacher I can be and hopefully allow my students to be the best learners and people they can be. I believe my experiences from basketball have helped to fund my knowledge towards teaching.