Finally...

The final CREDE standard, Emphasizing dialogue over lecture, is probably one of the hardest things for teachers to do. It is natural as an educator to want to lecture, but as we've all experienced going throughout our educational careers, we get BORED and begin to daydream. In the end, do we even remember what the lecture was about? NO!

Gosh, I hope I'm not one of those teachers! I don't think I am - I try to turn my lessons into more of a student-lead discussion than teacher-lead. Teachers should be facilitators. My students are usually in small groups, which goes hand-in-hand with strategy number 15: Partner Work (pg. 88). While students are engaged in partner work, they are more or less forced to create a dialogue in the learning process. This is an excellent way for me to be able to drift from group to group and eavesdrop on the many conversations. It is also an opportunity for me to steer the conversation in the direction I want them to go. Students have proven to learn more when they teach each other than they do by listening to a boring ol' lecture, (BUELLER....BUELLER) so by working in small groups/partners, dialogue is emphasized over lecture! Voila!