I think the informal moments when students are interacting with one another are paramount because they often bring rich conversation that can lead to explicit instruction. Engaging with students in these informal conversations can build great relationships and build great conversations. Not only does this interaction build language, but it builds social awareness among students. Additionally, by participating in these informal conversations with students, I can capitalize on the students interests and areas of need from their conversations in explicit instruction lessons. For example, if students are having a conversation about a book, but need help using the right terminology, I may give an explicit lesson using visual sentence stems when discussing books. As an educator it is important to understand that every moment is valuable, even the informal moments.
