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The question “what do we miss out on when we take the time to be silent and time to try to understand” is a good starting point to learn about the power of stories -  the reading talks about the layers and stories within stories - it takes time to understand and make meaning. It helps me to think that learning is a process and a journey each of us take but also a path we collectively take as a community, as a family and as a culture. When we learn it takes time, and also for knowledge and wisdom that are collectively learned over time by a community to be learned, it takes time. This also reminds of what Thomas King said in the first part of the lecture “The truth about the Stories” — story tellers are not the ones telling the stories but they are also being told about stories that’s being shaped by those that came before us (or something along that line that they aren’t the ones who own the stories but they are also learning from these stories). This I feel holds the power — that they told the story with honesty to share it with accuracy and meaning; that they went through a long period of time to make meaning of story; that they do all this for their children and the future — these things would help us think about our connection with the people that once lived where I live, the cultural and spiritual heritage that help us explore our values, identity and way of life, and it stirs emotions.

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As Thomas King tells us, we are made of stories. Without stories we can not make sense of our world and our place in it. The loss of the story tradition for a lot of indigenous people is very much at the root of a cultural genocide. These traditions go against so much of our present culture and we lack the patience to engage with it. Ironically, the only cure for this lack of patience is to take the time to engage in story telling and listening. As the Archibald article demonstrated, listening is an act which requires discipline, focus, and attention. It is tragic that as knowledgeable story tellers are lost, younger indigenous people will lose this tradition and the cultural DNA that is carried with it.

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The beautiful flow of today's "fish bowl" was so symbolic of how story weaving and telling are integral components to being human- we all have them (stories), we all learn and grow through them, and we can dive deeper in dialogue having them shared.

Addressing Robert's question: "how do we as educators move through all the various and diverse ways that learners interpret, listen, personalize, and engage with story?" I appreciated Julianna's explanation of how she could "stretch out" stories and invite learners to engage with stories in multimodal forms. I also would want to ask students to share their thoughts in relation to a story shared - and take time in addressing and hearing every learners thought (tying in the fish bowl conversation of slowing down and sitting with silence) to model how everyone processes diversely, to exemplify how we all bring our full selves to learning through story and our full selves may differ or share similarities in the ways we process and make meaning of learnings.

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I like the talking circle's ideas of not needing to know everything all at once when we learn, and how not responding right away during a conversation is a sign of reflection rather than a lack of active engagement. Both of these points relate to how our fast-paced society does not give us time to think deeply on the things we say and do. Silence and darkness are seen as a void of nothingness and a lack of action, but in fact they are places where we slow down and fill our minds with memories of the past in order to make sense of what we are faced with in the present moment and visualize what the future may bring. Narratives from the heart that are passed down by knowledge holders may be performed orally for a variety of purposes, but it is with time and in silence that we reflect on the teachings of these stories.

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Something that struck me was how Natalie and Brooke talked about the concept of time and how in our society, we often rush into giving answers rather than taking time. In the reading, I learned that elders prefer not to speak until they were sure of their answers. This conversation reminds me of something I learned in LLED -- "Many culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) learners go through a period of silence during which they are taking in what is going on around them" (Burke, 2010). It's interesting that the perception of silence often leads to CLD learners being misdiagnosed for possible disability.

Additionally, Julianna and Nina spoke about the power of silence. This point reminded me of how the reading mentions that silence can help create good thinking. Everything is so fast-paced in the world we live in today, and as Nina said, even the pace at which we speak is hard to keep up with sometimes. Rather than having students raise their hands and share their thoughts orally to show/check their understanding, one alternative I observed from my first day of practicum was that my SA had her students silently mouth the answer to her for math questions. I was so amazed at how this welcomed more students to participate, take risks and be brave!

Reanne raised a wonderful point about asking what we miss when we are moving at such a fast pace. This made me think back to an English course I took in first year and one of the texts we examined was a collection of poems. The poet drew inspiration from experiences riding on a skytrain to different stations. What knowledge can be found in place? How is this experience different when one is on the other side, walking on the streets?

Marilyn Dumont (Canadian poet and educator of Cree/Métis descent): “Main & Hastings,” “Powell,” ‘“the drive,’” “Robson,” “Napier,” “Oak,” “Hastings,” “Terminal Avenue,” “Broadway”

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The article and the discussion highlighted the importance of stories, slowing down, and silence.
Stories are more than just a means of sharing. It holds significant energy that feeds mind, heart, body and spirit. But, as Reanne mentioned in the discussion, we can use each of our stories as weave them together to create knowledge and foster personal connection, which is the essence of engaged learning. Julianna also mentioned how important it is when sharing a story with the class to be flexible and fluid with where this story takes the class. It is not simply sharing a story with students and moving on from there, rather, it is important to share the story and see where this story takes the learners and how they connect to it in their own way. As the article mentions, each story takes on a life of its own when it travels from person to person.
Additionally, I really appreciated how the discussion spent significant time discussing the importance of silent. In a very westernized culture, silence is uncomfortable and awkward. But, the elders in this article share that silence is a period for people to think about what they want to say before they actually commit to saying whatever comes to mind instantly. It provides a new perspective of the experience of silence.

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I liked how the group today discussed about checking our students understanding in different ways. I thought about how Westernized our ways of knowing is especially with the roles, "I'm the teacher" and "you're the student" where the students can share only with a raise of hands. We need to move towards an inquiry based learning as we're learning in our current program. Students should be able to share their stories, their questions, and thoughts throughout the day not simply when a teacher asks a question. The group talked about giving students time to reflect on their thoughts and to build on topics rather than just going from one lesson to another. The whole conversation tied in with the Indigenous ways of knowing as we need patience and time to grow, to connect with our students.

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"If you don't respond right away, you lose your voice". I really resonated with this Nina as I have definitely been in that position before as a student. This is something to keep in mind as we start our journey as educators as we will have a broad range of comfort levels when it comes to sharing and we must ensure that we are giving all our students a voice to participate in a way that makes them feel safe and comfortable. The last thing we would want is for a student to feel so uncomfortable that they miss out on sharing an inspiring and enlightening thought with the class. Additionally, I really appreciated the discussion surrounding how important silence can be. Listening and reflecting can be just as important as voicing your opinion so rather than making silence an awkward situation where individuals feel they need to speak up to move on, provide students with a space where they are able to sit with their thoughts and take the time process and reflect in a meaningful way that contributes to their learning rather than shying away from it.

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I think the idea that silence is a good thing is really important because it doesn't mean we don't have our own thoughts but it might mean we just need some time to think deeply about what that question means to us and taking the time to collect all our thoughts together. It allows us to have our own perspective without the interruption of other peoples thoughts taking over ours. I resonate with what was said about some teachers not giving us enough time to respond because if we don't respond right away, we continue to get our thoughts pushed down and we lose our voice.
Everyone is different and some people need time whether thats a few minutes, a few hours, or a few days to really collect all their thoughts together especially with questions that require deeper thinking.
I love the idea of allowing students to discuss their thoughts and ideas with people around them instead of sharing with the whole class because they might not be comfortable with it. We should be learning how to gain knowledge, how to connect ourselves with stories, and how to make meaning of stories that can be understood in our own way.

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I love the idea of "... story having the potential power to heal the emotions and spirit....[Story] can enable to interact with a story and each other through a storywork process."
Story can give us an alternate place of existence for us to interact in this setting with each other. We are transported there and we are all still in ourselves. We still hold our subject position and are bringing and gaining different things from this shared space. We may get to know each other through the discussion of what was experienced through the interaction shared by holding the same time, space and place of this story.

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I like what was said about how story is used as a mode of slowing down and creating connections to make personal meaning.  Within this space we have permission to slow down and create personal meaning that have the ability to stick with us better than in a traditional format of teaching - call and response/fast paced. We live in a world that values instant gratification and 'success'. This idea of stories from the text gives us the ability to slow down and be patient with how meanings can me made for us and what we take from these stories.

I also like how the group discussed the idea of shifting the lens of silence from being a bad thing (because we often feel uncomfortable with it) to it being a source of value. What can we learn or consider in these silences?

What do we miss out on when we don't slow down, experience the dark? --- We might be uncomfortable but that is the space where we learn and grow.

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This discussion about our culture being so fast-paced and not wanting to slow down really resonates with me. I think it's so true that we fear silence and always want to fill  awkward silences with conversation. Reanne brought up the question about what do we miss out on when we don't take the time to pause and be silent. This is such a good question to think about and relates to the point about how some students take longer to absorb and process information. We should be mindful when asking our students questions and not be so quick to move on. Silence allows us to sit with our thoughts and engage in meaningful reflection.

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There was very good, collective discussion by the circle about how learning and understanding takes time. It takes time to make meaning of something. It takes time to reflect. Brooke and Nina made good points about how today's society does not value slowing down and being patient but rather we value and expect instant gratification. Brooke's comment about how the distribution of power changes in the reading when the Elders sit in silence and allow the person asking the question to ponder the answer themselves. We often ask questions with the expectation that we will receive prompt answers but the story highlighted how sometimes, in order to give an honest and true answer, it takes time. It takes time to think, reflect, ensure that what we say is true, and so on. Sometimes a good answer takes time and patience and we should be comfortable with the silence that comes with processing a question and trying to find an answer. This ties in with the question Reanne asked; she asked about what we are missing when we don't take a moment to pause and be patient in our learning.

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The chapter connects with the First Peoples' Principle that learning involves recognizing that some knowledge is sacred and only shared with permission and/or in certain situations. The Elders were careful with the selection of stories appropriate for children. For example, they refused to share a story about plants because the stories they knew about plants were not to be told to children as they contained powerful knowledge about plants medicinal, healing, or spiritual use that was too strong for children. This demonstrates the power embedded in some Indigenous stories. Unlike many Western stories, they are not simply told for their entertainment value but contain powerful information.

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I appreciate the discussion on pausing and taking time while formulating your thoughts. I think that it is an element of indigenous education that western traditions could learn a lot from. As Nina mentioned, we are often programmed to want to speak up as quick as possible and have a competitive approach to a lot of what we do in life and I do not think that is always the most efficient way of doing things. I think giving time to consider our problems and listening to everyone and the knowledge they have from their lived experiences can provide so many insights that we would not ordinarily receive.

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I like the part of the article that points out how the circle, rock, and food establish contextual signals of behaviour. I thought of this in connection with time and patience in my past practices as a journalist, and thought of how I may have been disrespectful to the speaker in order to get the story. Like the story points out, “Storytelling is interrelation between storyteller and listener. This synergy brings the story to life”. I love the idea of using interviews in my classroom, from peers, to grandparents, to Indigenous students and teachers in other areas. I need to keep in mind the importance of patience and respect in how we approach the stories of others because of how a story gains life through the transmission and reception of more than just words.

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Something that came up in the talking circle is that we are constantly learning and living in a fast paced environment that we often don’t get time to pause and be patient with our learning. In turn, we miss out on all the learning that could happen if we slowed down a little. This makes me wonder why everything should be so fast-paced. Also, when asking questions, why are people uncomfortable when there are long periods of silence? Therefore, I think it is important to be patient and spend more time on what we are learning, as well as shift away from the need to find an answer as soon as possible.

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Nina brought up a really interesting group conversation strategy of giving time for people to think and form their ideas before just letting the first person that can raise their hand speak. It also made me think of utilizing different ways of expressing knowledge in the classroom that is not just speaking in front of their whole class too. I really enjoy giving students the chance to discuss their own ideas in smaller group or pairs before bring those ideas to a whole class format.

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The idea of silence being a good thing is a new and interesting concept for me to consider. I am so used to silence being a bad thing in conversations, and that moments of silence are meant to be filled with words. Elders sometimes do not respond or remain silent when they have nothing that they feel is meaningful to say, which is a practice I hope to include more in my life. Taking moments to pause and be silent to think help us to grow and expand and in turn, be more thoughtful with the words we do choose to share. I need to get more comfortable with silence and darkness, as these are moments of key reflection and a time where self discovery and meaningful connections are made.

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The mutual theme I am hearing is to value silence, pause, and slow down. This is directly related to the First People's Principle of Teaching to do things in a pace that supports learning. There are so many great ideas about using pedagogies to support a variety of ways to see how you are learning, such as discussions, pair share etc. I loved how Brooke said I don't take notes, and I can relate...and interestingly enough I am learning a lot more that I did in my undergrad.

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I love that this conversation has brought up the idea of sitting with questions and allowing ourselves the time to think through our answers and ensuring that we know what we are saying. It really stood out to me in the article. A lot of great points were brought up about taking our time to think and intentionally being silent. Similar to Nina, with many siblings it was like speak quick or miss your chance. That’s something that i have been trying to be mindful of now to change. Thinking and allowing yourself to sit comfortably with the silence is an important skill, especially for a teacher to have. This connects to the FPPL of “learning involves time and patience.” We must take the time to think, and be patient with others while they form and find the answers.

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I connected with Nina's story of how if you don't respond right away in a conversation with another or in a group, you will lose your voice and chance to speak. This is because of societies way of instant gratification and how others will speak over you or change the topic. However if you do take your time to articulate your response, some may view it as rude because you're taking time to think. It is uncomfortable to sit in silence and to sit with our thoughts but it is important to do this.  I found that in this talking circle it was constant talking about taking time to respond but there were no pauses or silences which was ironic and Bekky had to apologize and "jump" in to speak and give her perspective. I liked Natalie's point of how knowledge is learned, usually it is just hoarded but that is not how it should be. Like in last class, we were just memorizers and regurgitators but that is not how knowledge is learned. Learning is a continuous process and being slightly uncomfortable will allow us to grow

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I resonated with what was said about the time and patience and duration that is needed for learning to happen. So often we try to learn in the context of the short-term similar to the concept of short-term gratification rather than letting it sink and seep into our beings. The also connected with the reading concerning the transference of knowledge through stories and the practice and time it took for someone to be qualified to be a Indigenous Storyteller. It was amazing to me that for someone to be deemed qualified as a storyteller of Indigenous sacred knowledge it takes up to 40 years before someone is given permission to share sacred stories, trusting that they know how to manage the significance and power of those sacred stories.

Nina's comment about how in contemporary society's norms of conversation, if you do not respond or say something right away, you lose your right to a voice in that conversation in a given situation. I find this so contrary to even learning the concept of a lived curriculum and seeing learns as curriculum developers which takes up so much time to set up and prep students to be ready for such a privilege and responsibility. Often educators may not want to wait so long or "waste" so much effort in fostering such a development being mindful of the learner's context and learning styles. It is best practice to give some time for students to process and think before responding but so often that is not always given.

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I really appreciate Natalie's point about how learning is a continuous process and that we can't expect to learn everything all at once. As students, this is a hard concept to accept. Westernized society moves at such a fast pace, and it can be really hard to keep up - not to mention exhausting. I value the idea of being patient and slowing down, taking the time to listen, reflect, learn, and re-evaluate, which reiterates many principles of the FPPL. "The importance of silence" is so powerful yet so simple. I really connected with Nina's comment about if you don't respond right away you tend to lose your voice. My family is very knowledgeable and opinionated. At times, I feel like my voice is not being heard because I choose not to step in and speak up over the chatter. My silence and wondering is something that I am beginning to acknowledge as a positive trait in myself.

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Natalie made a great point about the idea of taking time to tell stories because we don’t need to know everything all at once, even as TC’s. It goes along well with the notion of continuous learning and advocating this idea with our own students; that they won’t know everything after completing a lesson/unit/grade level, it’s not realistic and more meaningful to continuously gain knowledge not just expect immediate answers.
There was also a good point brought about about silence and the unknown and how so much is gained from this! Specifically, what can be gained from students pondering, reflecting, and bringing ideas up later on. Rather than expecting student responses right after teaching. As an educator it’s good to give students time to process the new information and later develop their questions.

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As mentioned in the talking circle, as educators we may have expectations where we need to have all the answers or mastering a field of knowledge. As Anish quoted in our inquiry class "it is through reflection that we meaning-make". Taking the time to listen to stories, taking time to reflect, even as Nina mentioned taking the time to speak at your own pace.. these are all enriching.
I was struck by Reanne's question: by moving so fast, what do we miss out on?
"Why do we as teachers have to be answer collectors?" - RC
This is so profound. As Julianna mentioned, we can implement something practically by not rushing to choose the first hand raised to get the answer done.

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Nina's point about silence being undervalued because if you don't say anything right away then you are either silenced or misunderstood as rude was something I found very profound. It has enlightened another way students may become marginalized or silenced in a society that values quick responses. It's another way to look at how to create equitable learning spaces and allowing students who take more time to formulate their thoughts and answers to have a platform to speak and feel equally valued as others who may think quicker.

With regards to respect for elders nowadays, I totally agree that our generation lacks that. I was taught to respect my elders even if I disagree with them because it is valued in my culture. I'm glad to see that something like this is being acknowledged in indigenous ways of knowing because it is such a shame that wisdom from elders are dismissed as youth may believe they are more educated and know better.

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I also feel the same that Natalie feels about gathering as much knowledge as possible because the program is so face paced. It is impossible to be able to retain all that knowledge. And in schools, we focus so much on facts and research and everything we do needs to be backed up by Science. However, when it comes to storytelling, it teaches a general idea and it is up for interpretation. We have time to sit with it and think about what the story means to us. The thing I like as well is that there is no right answer, we have to come up with the conclusions ourselves.

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I think it is extremely important to acknowledge not only that it can be powerful to take a pause and not answer right away, but to also think of how our students may have different ways of being and knowing that may include this type of pause in their work and responses. I wonder how many children have been mistreated by the practice of this pause... It makes me sad. It makes me want to do better.

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Natalie mentioned feeling as if you need to know everything right away, especially in this program, and this is something that I can really relate to. Our culture is very fast-paced and we always want to know the answer immediately.  It is so important, especially in today's society, to slow down and take the time to reflect and learn, and to recognize that silence is ok. Silence doesn't mean that you don't understand something, but allows you to have the time to reflect on your thoughts and gain new knowledge.

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The idea that silence is a good thing is something i resonate with. I think it is in silence that we are able to reflect and collect our thoughts. Our current society rarely talks about keeping busy and to avoid silence however it is very important. Our society today promotes taking things fast and speeding through our days but we need to be able to have time to pause and reflect. Whenever I lead discussion groups I always allow a lot of time for people to sit in silence before the silence calls them to provide their perspective.