And the ensuing epiphany...

I realized, a few minutes ago, that mentioning the earlier exchange with my kids to Pollyanna ReBot (more on her later) would be fruitless. She would just tell me that it's me, that I am doing the think-alouds wrong and not engaging the children. The reality would not occur to her, that my students have very real opinions about the way they are taught and those opinions should be considered.