Not Done Talking

Doctor Who: "Anyway, that's not the plan."

Dr. Song: "There's a plan."

Doctor Who: "Not yet, I haven't finished talking."

- Doctor Who Series 5 Episode 5 "Flesh and Stone"

This quote speaks to the power of speech and how it can be used in the process of thought. It hearkens back to another favourite quote of mine, 

“I have to engage in endless dialogue before I write,” McLuhan explains, “I want to talk a subject over and over … I do a lot of my serious work while I’m talking out loud to people. I’m feeling around, not making pronouncements. Most people use speech as a result of thought, but I use it as the process.” 


- Fitzgerald, Judith. Marshall McLuhan: Wise Guy. XYZ Publishing: Montreal, 2001. pg 58-59.

I like to talk over ideas too. I find my best ideas actually come through in conversations. I don’t know why this is, but it does seem to be the case. When I read this quote, I knew that I wasn’t alone in this. 

I have solved problems in my class by talking. I have come up with lesson plan ideas through speech. I have come up with behaviour management techniques, routines, and countless other useful things through the process of speech. 

Cool, eh?