Moving onto additional goals for my future practices, what I have learned from number talks and their central instructional strategies can also help me become a better teacher in all content areas. Particularly, to help me become a better, more well-rounded teacher, I plan to apply the “talk moves” in number talks, such as revoicing student thinking or asking students to add on to another students’ answer, into ELA, Science and Social Studies. These “talk moves” can help me forge a more student-centered environment where their discussions truly drive instruction. For instance, in my literacy methods class, we have discussed how to move away from the traditional IRE model of discussion that positions the teacher as the dominant voice in the classroom who moves and drives the conversation. Indeed, the IRE model has the teacher asking a question, having their students respond to it and then evaluating their responses with vague feedback, such as “good job” or “not quite.” Aligning with traditional power dynamics in the classroom, the teacher is the principal possessor of knowledge and the ultimate arbiter of right or wrong answers in the IRE model. Thus, I believe that I can draw on these “talk moves” to help scaffold and guide me in more intentionally moving away from the IRE model in all content areas. With these “talk moves,” I can truly disrupt the power dynamics embedded in the classroom by forging places in the curriculum where my students’ thinking and backgrounds guide their engagement and comprehension of the content.
