Thinking in my classroom is loud. Though I have a semblance of order in my room, I encourage freedom of thought by gradually weaning students off of the “hand raising” method and into seminar style discussions. Students take ownership of conversations by talking with each other rather than raising their hand and waiting to be called upon by the teacher, and then when it is their turn talking to the teacher. I arrange my tables in a circle shape as often as possible. Thinking isn’t something my students always do alone. Many times if someone walks into my room they walk into a “group think”.

To be successful, students need to be able to find the important parts of the material we’re studying. Often, we call these the key points. Once they know the “forest”, they fill in the “trees”. They also need to be able to empathize; whether or not empathy can be taught is an entirely different conversation.

All in all, discourse is the most important part of my history course because history is not static.

There is technology that I can use to help my students achieve the goal of being able to articulate their understanding and demonstrate analysis of concepts through speech and writing. Tools such as Voice Thread, Garage Band, and Blogger can help students hone their skills in these areas.