ABSTRACT
Something was shifting. When I opened my mouth to speak, students were giving real consideration to my words. They were lifting their hands to ask hard questions of the material, of themselves, of myself, and of their classmates. They were willing to sit in silence and think before responding to questions from me or from each other. Dialogue between students was increasing, and I was shifting into a facilitator role more often. Students were taking ownership of the conversation. They were opening up, beginning to share deeper and more personal frustrations (we’ll talk about Shared Story Blocks in Connection Strategy 5) in connection with the material we were covering, drawing from their life experiences and adding to the productivity of the classroom environment.
