Through a conversation with Ilana Horn (@tchmathculture) and Michael Pershan (@mpershan) this morning at 5 am Pacific Time, I've had another insight about why I think that Talking Points is such a powerful activity structure: it is a non-coercive way for students to "try on" different ideas about mindset (or anything else) during their time of greatest neuroplasticity.
I cannot tell you how many times during Talking Points I've heard a student say, "I never thought of it that way before, but I kind of agree with the statement because ____..." (side note: justification and listening are the two most important habits of mind that Talking Points help to cultivate).
I cannot tell you because it has happened so many more times than I can count.
This is related, I suspect, to something else I've been noticing lately — that there are a lot of people who believe in their hearts that they are implementing Complex Instruction, but in fact, they are just using the structures of Complex Instructions as tools for implementing a coercive classroom management strategy.
To me, this is at odds with my goals for social justice, equity, and inclusion, which means that I really have to walk the talk in my classroom every day.
More soon but I wanted to capture these thoughts.
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