Talking in Class

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McCann, Johannessen, Kahn, and Flanagan guide high school teachers in developing skills in promoting and facilitating authentic discussion in the English language arts classroom. Experienced teachers know-and new teachers quickly learn-how challenging it is to spark and sustain effective classroom discussions. How can we avoid asking leading questions that make students try to read our minds for a "correct" answer? How can we foster meaningful, focused conversation that produces deeper insights into a specific work or topic? Talking in Class guides readers in developing skills that promote and facilitate authentic discussion within the English language arts classroom. Speaking from their own classroom experience, the authors introduce some basic considerations for planning, managing, and evaluating large-group and small-group discussions. Examples of both instructional activities and classroom practices illustrate the ways that discussion prepares students for subsequent learning, specifically in connection to writing and to the reading and interpretation of literature. The authors also explore how discussion can connect many phases and components of the curriculum; promote and support inquiry and critical thinking; incorporate current, popular technologies, such as blogs and discussion boards; and connect students to issues that are important to them and to the broader world of thinkers.

Thomas M. McCann has taught English in a variety of school settings, including eight years in an alternative school. He holds a BA from Northern Illinois University, an MA from Southern Illinois University, an MA from Saint Xavier University, and a PhD from the University of Chicago. He has published articles in Research in the Teaching of English, English Journal, Educational Leadership, Illinois English Bulletin, The Wisconsin English Journal, and California English. With Peter Smagorinsky and Stephen Kern, he is coauthor of Explorations: Introductory Activities for Literature and Composition, 7-12 (1987). With Larry Johannessen, he is coauthor of In Case You Teach English: An Interactive Casebook for Prospective and Practicing Teachers (2002). With Johannessen, Kahn, and others, he is coeditor of Reflective Teaching, Reflective Learning (2005). McCann has taught in four high schools, two colleges, and three universities, where he worked with preservice and practicing teachers in graduate education programs. He has supervised teachers in high school for twenty years. He served for fourteen years as English department chair at Community High School in West Chicago, Illinois, where he taught English and supervised other English teachers. He also worked as assistant principal for curriculum and instruction at Community High School. He is now assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction for Elmhurst Public Schools. He also serves as adjunct professor of English at Elmhurst College. He has collaborated with Johannessen on research about the concerns of teachers during their formative years of teaching (Supporting Beginning English Teachers, 2005). He lives in Elmhurst, Illinois, with his wife Pamela and daughter Katie.