It didn't matter who you were or what your last grade was; you had a voice in Mrs. Ravert's world.

     My fourth grade experience followed my third grade very nicely.  While Mrs. Bensen must have been a tough act to follow, Mrs. Ravert, a young teacher, was wise beyond her years.  She took full advantage of working beside her experienced mentor.  She made no attempt to copy her.  Instead, she shared the same goals and beliefs; being every bit as authentic.  She was the best Mrs. Ravert she could be, continuing the momentum established by Mrs. Bensen.  They were teammates, playing different positions perhaps, but shepherding us forward nonetheless.
     Where Mrs. Bensen was always on her feet, moving purposefully about the room, setting a fast pace; Mrs. Ravert was visibly more relaxed, expecting her fourth graders to be deeper thinkers.  Mrs. Ravert transitioned us from the teacher driven expectations of Mrs. Bensen to a student-centered environment, expecting us to engage in projects and activities with fewer rules and more synthesis.   While Mrs. Bensen was buzzing around keeping everyone moving forward on their personal path, meeting students were they were; Mrs. Ravert did more problem based learning.
     Looking back now, I would say that Mrs. Ravert was inverting Bloom's taxonomy.  She would calmly sit at her desk, or lean over her podium, then ask a vague, open-ended question.  After asking the question, she would go to the board and calmly write the question on the board without saying another word.  This was her way of managing "wait time."  She had trained us in the process.  The question was never beyond our reach.  Everyone could have an answer and no answer was necessarily right or wrong.  These were not recall questions.  These were grow your imagination questions.  Every day began this way and every transition from subject to subject worked this way.  No one could possibly be unprepared or embarrassed because she formed the question in a way that made it safe.
     Imagine a teacher looking out over the class, making eye contact with each student as she asks a question.  She writes the question on the board in silence, turning to make eye contact with a student or two as she writes.  She puts down the chalk, signaling that it is time for us to have a response.  More eye contact as she slowly leaves the board to enter our space, no longer a Sage on the Stage, but now a Guide on the Side.  "What do we think?"  "How do we feel?"  "What are we imagining?"  Remember, the question is not recall.  It might not even be a question.  It might be a sentence that introduces a setting or character, followed by the question, "What do you think is happening in this story?"
     Think about it.  Nearly thirty fourth graders on the edge of their seats, waiting for the teacher to ask a question that would stimulate thought, discussion, imagination, visualization, creativity, and self-directed learning.  It didn't matter who you were or what your last grade was; you had a voice in Mrs. Ravert's world.  She didn't need to call attention to the rules or behavior issues as the day began or we moved to a new subject.  We were looking forward to the question as if it were a reward for us.  We were growing our imagination again and again as we thought and discussed a wide variety of topics each day as Mrs. Ravert's questions gave us voice.