Ashlie, that was such a great comment you made. "If we teach students how to communicate effectively, we can engage them in the lesson and keep them involved." Wouldn't that be a win-win situation for both student and teacher? Teacher's strive to keep students actively engaged in the lesson, but instead of wanting interaction/communication, do we not sometimes expect a quiet learning environment? This has been something that has been difficult for me...allowing students to freely communicate/discuss without me doing all the work. When I first came to NHS (must I always end up talking about Home Economics?)..anyway, an administrator made a negative comment regarding my students talking during their food laboratory. Hey, I wanted them to talk!! I wanted the head cook to go over the list of responsibilities each member of the lab wwas to carry out..I wanted the students asking the head cook questions if they forgot or didn't understand what they needed to do. (The rule was, ask the head cook first, before the teacher)...and when they were sitting at their tables eating, were they not suppose to have appropriate table conversation?? This particular administrator felt the "teacher talked and the students listened." From that point on I become a bit uncomfortable with students talking in the classroom. However, just as the weight lifter needs to lift weights to get stronger and the writer needs to write to become a better writer, our students need to "talk" in order to enjoy (and be able to join in) a good discussion, share opinions, voice concerns, explain what happened, etc. Talking is so natural, so let's be sure we get away from recitation and have more authenic discussions!