Chapter 5 summary

Teaching with Your Mouth Shut, by Donald L. Finkel

Chapter 5

Significant Points in the Chapter

          The previous chapters have shown that teaching lies in engaging students in inquiry. An essential component of this process involves writing, both on the teacher’s and the student’s part. When a “writing community” exists, collaborative inquiry can occur.

Teaching Through Writing

          Plato asserts that “writing cannot teach” and “reading cannot lead to knowledge”; they simply demonstrate what the learner already knows (p. 71). This assumption implies that to cultivate wisdom discussion is the correct method to use because writing only “fosters the illusion of knowledge” (p. 71). Nevertheless, the author offers the possibility that writing can a valuable tool for the teacher to use when communicating to his/her students.

          When a teach lectures or expounds information, he/she is directly speaking to the students. This can be problematic for the students because they must evaluate the tone, pace, gestures, and inflections of speech along with the content. But if a teacher writes to the student, he/she is indirectly speaking to them. With this method, the students can focus on the content without the influence of external factors.  For this reason, the author advocates writing teacher response letters.

          Finkel offers his approach of using teacher response letters when critiquing or evaluation a student’s work. This method employs a “Dear John” format where two to three points are shared with the students. He suggests beginning with the strengths of the paper because people can learn as much from what is strong as is what is weak. He also recommends using humor and keeping copies of all of the letters for future reference. This might be time-consuming but the “medium of personal letters makes clear to them (students) that I am taking their writing seriously” (p. 74).

          Lectures can be converted into text to provide “another form of writing to the students” (p. 74). When the teacher provides a written copy, students can read it at their pace, discuss it later, reflect and really think about the content, and focus on the content rather than the teacher’s performance. Some people think this minimizes the role of the teacher but, as long as its inclusion into the course is carefully considered, it can be a powerful support for the class. When providing written text, it is important to not make too many copies because the scarcity of them creates an feeling of significance. Next, the notes should be used randomly; “presenting a written text formally should be a special occasion; the less frequently it is done, the more likely students will pay attention to it” (p. 77). Finally, the teacher should consider writing their own essays for the students to read. This will demonstrate that the teacher is also a participant in the inquiry-center learning, it will provide an example for the students to emulate, and it can contribute to the problem solving issues of the course.

Learning Through Writing Together:

          Creating a “writing community” encourages the class to work collaboratively through the inquiry process (p. 78). This community works best when two assumptions are already in place: The course is considered a “locus of intellectual inquiry” and the act of writing is perceived as “a process of intellectual inquiry” (p. 78).To begin the writing process, teachers should insist that students start with a genuine question; something they don’t know the answer to. Then students need to distinguish the difference between discovery and communication. When students can do this in their groups, the generated answers should address their original question, thus locating their thesis. Afterwards, the rules of writing can be applied. To complete the process of the writing community, students need to participate in public and collective writing inquiry. A suggested outline of this process is:

·         Write an essay every two weeks

·         Hand them into a class notebook, with a copy being given to the teacher

·         On alternate weeks, students select one or two of the essays to respond to in a letter format

·         Written responses are copied in triplicate; one being given to the author, one to the class notebook, and one to the teacher.

*Details of this procedure on located on page 80 of the book.

These exercises encourage student to write for a wider audience, since they know a variety of people will be reading them. It can also push them to write, develop better thinking skills, and publish their work. The reality-base of this writing makes it important for them to do a good job. It also invites them to speak without telling, which can be extremely beneficial to the students who are not comfortable speaking or expressing their opinions. When this is accomplished, it makes writing just as powerful as reading when it comes to learning.

           

Finkel, D. L. (2000). Teaching with your mouth shut. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook.