Brown Chapters 4 & 16 & Kumar Chapter 3

Something while reading Kumar chapter three that I was so interested in, and really questioned was when he says, “One crucial way to ensure the accomplishment of lessons is for the teacher to show a willingness to utilize learning opportunities created by the learner, even if the learner talk, from the teacher’s point of view, is not highly relevant to the task at hand” (54). I do not really understand this. I completely understand the importance of learning opportunities that are made by the learner, and the importance of interaction, but should we always continue to let our students take advantage of these opportunities time after time when it takes us off task? I know that it is so important to not be a prisoner of my agenda, and it is important to make changes as class progresses for it to be most meaningful and effective, but what if we cannot let learners take advantage of these learning opportunities and bring it back full circle to relate to class? When do we stop taking advantage of these learner created opportunities to focus on the curriculum? Do we?  The textbook tells us that learning opportunities in the classroom are most effective when teachers and learners are engaged in a joint exploration of learning and teaching and I agree with this; I just do not know how to ensure that my students are learning what the curriculum and standards asks me to teach if many of our learner created discussions are not relevant to our task.