Oral Language

As think about the different experiences I have had in the classroom as a student and also the different opportunities to dicuss different topics, there is one class that comes to mind. That class was my second semester of college english. The teacher did a great job of encouraging dicussion and allowing us to give our own ideas and opinions. The class was centered on debates and speeches so I guess it was expected of us to voice what we thought about the presented topics. Often the teacher would present an idea or an article to the class. She then would ask someone to share their thoughts or understandings about the topic. She never took a stand of her own but typically played the devil's advocate, which more times than not, stimulated conversations that would become very interesting. Other times she would divide the class and tell us what our stance was on the topic and allow us to defend our assigned stance. Even then, when we were debating, she would comment and agitate the wasps nest so to speak. She always knew how to ask the questions or  bring  out key points in the discussion that would always lead to a deeper more thought provoking disscussion. Ultimately, she was helping us to think about what we were writing and how to use evidence to support our writings. She was also teaching us about what others may say or think as they read our essays. I think this compares to Van De Weghe and his methods because my teacher tried not to present yes or no questions. She was also asking open ended questions that either required thought or more than a one word response. She also knew that our class was very diverse and knew that as she presented the different questions in the classroom, that there existed an opportunity for multiple points of views. All in all, I really enjoyed the dicussions that we had in that class and feel that it not only help me to enjoy the class more but I also learned a lot about how to write a well supported essay.