The Teacher as Screenwriter – Teacher Talk vs. Student Talk
It happened shortly after June 20, 1975. I was almost 6 years old, so I don’t have a clear memory of the details. The impact, however, lives on in my mind to this day. My parents brought my brother and me to the drive-in theater to see Steven Spielberg’s masterpiece, Jaws. I remember our frequent trips to Nantasket Beach being a very different experience after seeing this movie. Even to this day, when in the ocean, I don’t go past my waist and I sometimes hear John Williams’ shark leitmotif in my head when I am trying to enjoy myself in the waves. Jaws was my first window into how much we should respect nature and, at times, have a healthy fear of it. It was also my first exposure to the results of amazing film making collaboration, although I didn’t know it at the time. For the purposes of this post though, it was the first time I heard, “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.”
There are many reasons why this quote is one of the most memorable in the history of film. This is the moment Chief Brody first sees the shark up close. Brody’s line to Quint is a clever way of communicating everything that needs to be said. The best trivia about this line is that it wasn’t in the script! The brilliant actor, Roy Scheider, improvised the line.
What can’t be ignored is the role of the camera angles and music in making the line even more powerful. Brody jerks up when he sees the shark and John Williams’ background music starts up. Slowly, Brody backs up to be in the same shot as Quint. All of this is dramatic and makes the line that is about to come even more memorable.
What can teachers learn from this movie moment? Even though you have probably seen it a zillion times, this time you may want to watch the moment again. Notice what is being communicated, how it is being communicated, and how the other characters react. Notice also the type of dialogue at the end of the clip. (My apologies for the language.)
Chief Brody’s succinct, 6-word declarative sentence is related to teacher talk vs. student talk. I work very hard to make my mini lessons succinct and focus on giving the students only what they need to get started with the learning and nothing more. Sometimes I am successful and other times not so much. This moment in Jaws is a superb example of teacher talk vs. student talk. I break it down below:
Brody sees the shark up close and now knows how big this shark truly is (the teacher with the essential question/focus for the lesson)
Brody communicates to Quint, in a quick, practical way, what they are up against, without any details (set students off with a focus, not a 30 minute “mini” lesson/lecture)
Quint (a student) is now aware and focused on what Brody wants him to focus on. Quint goes to see for himself.
Quint gathers information from observing. He shouts an order to Hooper (another student).
Hooper follows the order.
Hooper now looks and is focused on the same thing as Brody and Quint.
Hooper gathers information from observing.
Shark passes extremely close to the boat.
All three observe the focus together.
Quint and Hooper share their observations out loud.
What is missing from this clip is all the activity after it in which Hooper and Quint (the students) are in motion, preparing and gathering their tools, making observations and in Hooper’s case, taking pictures to record/capture the information.
“You’re gonna need a bigger boat,” puts all the rest of the “learning” into motion. By learning, I mean Quint and Hooper’s observations and the sharing of those observations with each other. The critical thinking, teamwork, and appreciation of each other despite their differences, starts with Brody’s line. However, the rest of the learning is Quint and Hooper’s with Brody mostly watching and following orders. We can facilitate our students’ learning by listening, asking questions here and there, saying, “Tell me more about that,” and letting them do most of the talking.
Below is a video clip of another movie that uses a six-word declarative sentence to send shivers down the audiences’ spines. Again, sorry for the language and I want to warn you that this clip is intense.
Us is an amazingly freaky horror film by the amazing writer/director Jordan Peele. I think most of us who saw this movie, saw the trailer at least once before seeing the movie and at least partially knew what was coming. That may have made this line even more powerful. “There’s a family in our driveway,” just like, “You’re gonna need a bigger boat,” puts the “learning” in motion. Just like in Jaws, this line is succinct and literal. After this line is said, there is a short exchange between the characters and then the audience sees the silhouette of the family in the driveway and the menacing music starts. This is one way that the line is different from the one in Jaws. In Jaws, we have seen the shark and partially up close when it attacked the man in the ponded area of the beach. We even see the shark come up in the scene a split second before Brody sees it because he is looking the other way muttering about Quint. In Us, Jason sees the family and says so, but we, the audience, have not seen the family yet and don’t for another second or two. This adds to the suspense. When we do see them, they are far away and in silhouette to make it even scarier. Peele talks about this line being like Carol Ann’s line, “We’re here,” in Poltergeist. The lines are alike in that they both announce that something bad has arrived. However, in Poltergeist we don’t really get to see those bad entities until much later in the movie. In Us, we see them seconds after the line is said and then everything gets insane quickly.
In the movie theater, when these scenes occurred, from Poltergeist, Jaws, or Us, do you think anyone in the audience got up to go to the bathroom or get more popcorn? These iconic character lines tell us to pay attention and hang on. Can we tease and use suspense to grab our students’ attention and get them ready for learning? One great resource for hooks to use in the classroom is Teach Like a Pirate by Dave Burgess. Keep your hooks short (teacher talk) or have your students create the hooks like Gini Cunningham suggests (resource at the end of this post). Then set students off to do the learning and talking themselves.
What is Dialogue?
Robert McKee, in his book Dialogue, says, “All talk responds to a need, engages a purpose, and performs an action.” He explains that the word dialogue comes from two Greek words: “dia” meaning through and “legein” meaning speech. So, dialogue is “action taken through words as opposed to deeds.” He argues that even if it is just one person on stage or screen talking, it is dialogue because, “To argue within yourself, your mind creates a second self and talks to it as if it were another person.”
When I read McKee’s explanation about what dialogue is, I was first reminded of teacher think-alouds strategies and the power of having students think-aloud. On pg. 21 of Tanny McGregor’s book Comprehension Connections: Bridges to Strategic Reading there is a picture of a student sitting and reading a book and another student standing next to him with her head popping out of a large paper think bubble. This is a fun way to have students practice and model their thinking (inner dialogue) while reading. There are many resources for learning more about think-aloud strategies. One book I recommend is Improving Comprehension Think Aloud Strategies: Modeling What Good Readers Do by Jeffrey D. Wilhelm Ph.D.
McKee’s definition of dialogue also reminded me of the math conversations that start with students proving their strategy and answer to themselves first and then trying to prove it to their partner. Students need to be thinking, talking, and listening to their peers talk.
Pacing and Timing of Dialogue
If there is too much teacher talk (explaining/exposition), students don’t get a chance to have that inner dialogue or dialogue with their peers that rich learning requires. McKee explains that pacing is, “The rate or frequency with which exposition is spliced into the telling,” and timing is, “Choosing the precise scene and the exact line within that scene to reveal a specific fact.” Too little exposition and the audience “disengages,” too much exposition will “choke interest.”
Think about the following dialogue tips from McKee with the lens of teacher talk:
“…you must pace and time the placement of exposition with care and skill.”
Pass on “only what the audience member needs to know when she absolutely needs and wants to know it. Not a moment before.”
“Use the minimal exposition necessary to maintain the flow of curiosity and empathy.”
“...certain facts need to be stressed and repeated in more than one scene to guarantee that the audience remembers them at a critical future turning point. Other less important facts need only a single hint or gesture.”
Maybe you don’t struggle with talking too much during your lessons and don’t need to cut down your teacher talk. However, you may not realize how much you are talking during a given lesson. Making sure your mini lesson doesn’t go too long is only one piece of this examination of your practice. If you haven’t already, take a serious look at your teacher talk time vs student talk time. Ask a colleague to observe a lesson and time your teacher talk through the entire session. Be open, learn what you can from the data collected, and adjust your teacher talk accordingly.
Please share your thoughts about teacher talk vs. student talk in the comments below. Next up, I will continue with dialogue related to social emotional learning and student collaboration.
Resources Mentioned
Teach Like a Pirate by Dave Burgess
Never Work Harder Than Your Students & Other Principles of Great Teaching by Robyn R. Jackson
The New Teacher’s Companion: Practical Wisdom for Succeeding in the Classroom by Gini Cunningham.
Improving Comprehension with Think-Aloud Strategies: Modeling What Good Readers Do by Jeffrey D. Wilhelm Ph.D.
Comprehension Connections: Bridges to Strategic Reading by Tanny McGregor