Teacher Feature: Maggie Iuni on Making Discussion Meaningful for Students
Thank you to Maggie Iuni for sharing her R.E.A.L. life with us! Maggie is an English teacher at Berkeley Carroll School in Brooklyn, NY. We loved hearing about Maggie’s experience using R.E.A.L. to help her students grow their curiosity and perspective-taking, and discover their own “why” when it comes to learning discussion skills.
Name: Margaret “Maggie” Iuni
Hometown: Brooklyn, New York
Current School: At the Berkeley Carroll School, I teach “Literatures of Community”, which is our 9th-grade literature class. Last semester, I taught 10th-grade “Voice and Style”, which is our personal essay writing class. And then this semester, I have a new 12th-grade elective, which is called “The Marriage Plot and Rom-Coms”, which has been fun.
Thinking back to when you were a student, how would you describe yourself in three words?
I’m going with “curious, enthusiastic, and diligent.”
When it comes to discussion, what is your “why”? What feels compelling and important about teaching these particular skills?
I went to Brooklyn College for undergrad, and while I was there, my professors had a really heavy emphasis on critical literacy. One of the things they instilled in me is that my why actually isn’t the thing that matters. What matters is the student’s why, and so my why is actually helping them discover their own.
To me, the whole point of these discussions is helping students figure out why does this matter to them. Because if you can’t figure that out, you’re going to think that this is the most boring thing in the world.
And why would you bother going to English class if you can’t understand that this actually has an impact on your life, right? It’s not necessarily the plot of the book, but the ideas in the book are something that could be meaningful to you. I try to really center on that and ask them, “Why does this matter to you?” Why do these ideas resonate with you? Something that I love about R.E.A.L. Discussion is that it centers student voices and doesn’t say, “Oh, that’s something that we shouldn’t be talking about, we should only be talking about the text, we should only be talking about history class”. Instead, the Relate skill explicitly says, you should be thinking about how this relates to your own experiences in your own life, and I think that that’s really powerful.
That’s such a wonderful way of putting it, especially for kids.
It’s funny because the kids struggle with the format of R.E.A.L. A lot of them report in the surveys that it’s so unnatural, so scripted. My response to them is, first of all, if it’s too scripted, that’s because your prep work is written in full sentences. And second of all, if you’re uncomfortable with the format, I hear that. They’re right; it isn’t natural, but the structure is there for a reason.
We just made it through the end of Cycle 2 a couple of weeks ago. Some students say they wish we didn’t have to do all this extra stuff, but they 100% have grown into the format. Now they report that they’re listening better and taking notes better. So it’s about exposing them to a level of discomfort that’s truly very accessible and that they will have to figure out how to integrate into their life as academic students.
Now that you’ve used R.E.A.L. Discussion in your class for a couple of years, do you feel like you can identify a time of the year when you see a turning point for the kids and their skill development?
Yes, I think so. We read four complete books throughout the year, but the first conversation that we have, no matter what we would be doing it on, is about learning the format. It’s not really going to be the best conversation of all time. In fact, think that’s true for the entire first cycle.
Once we get through the structures, they kind of realize that the structures have value. They roll with it, and then we can do more beyond that. Then Cycle 2 is really where it kicks off. This year, the kids really liked dissecting The Prime of Miss Jean Brody in their R.E.A.L. Discussions and the structure paid off. This novel is a nasty little book because the narrator is completely unreliable and on the side of this really terrible teacher, who is literally a blatant fascist, and who influences the students in terrible ways. This book is brilliant and is truly a masterclass on what a sentence can do. She has these little pernicious sentences that are so good.
It takes a while, but by the third cycle, you start to see them use the skills more fluidly—they relate, ask strong questions, and use nonverbal cues so naturally they don’t even realize they’re doing it.
That’s so wonderful to hear. Thinking back to your first R.E.A.L. Discussion, was there anything you were worried about beforehand? Were there any surprises or unexpected successes?
I was totally terrified. I kept wondering—what was I supposed to do? How do I stay hands-off but still support them?
My first R.E.A.L. Discussion was last school year, in September 2024. I thought, we’ll just see how it goes. I was honestly shocked by how long they could talk when you give them the space, and how on task they stayed with those little accountability tools—note-taking, the timer on the board. (They’re very good at tracking their own time!) What surprised me most was how completely they rose to the prompt.
Now that I’ve done this twice, I think the real success comes when they finish that first conversation saying, “We don’t need this anymore—we can just have normal conversations.” That’s when I know it’s working, even if they don’t realize it yet. They feel confident enough to think they don’t need the structure—but they still do. That, to me, should feel empowering for other educators: it means you’ve created a space where their voices actually work. The format is just there to hold that growth until they can carry it themselves.
That really rings true. I think a lot of teachers worry about that first discussion. The kids can be resistant to the NVCs. And it’s natural for teachers to wonder whether they are doing it right.
It’s challenging for teachers to let the kids go off and talk. You don’t have to listen to every single thing, but a lot of teachers are so anxious about that: Can I make sure the kids get what we need out of it if they talk without me being there?
The only thing that I grade for R.E.A.L. Discussions is their prep work because that’s the part that shows the groundwork thinking. I want them to practice the skills of note-taking without writing everything line by line. I want them to be able to have flexibility in conversation while being prepared.
By doing the prep work, when they come to class, they will be much more prepared and have much more fruitful conversations. And so, for me, if I know that their prep work is done, then I can feel a lot more confident in letting them go talk.
Right—otherwise you wouldn’t know if they’d reached a real processing level.
Yes, and to the point about not always knowing if everyone has grasped something in a class discussion—what I love to do, especially during high-stress times like midterms, finals, or the end of a quarter, is collect the shoutouts students have received. I pull them from end-of-cycle reflections and even from notes or journal entries. Then, I share some of the comments anonymously, so they don’t know who said what, but they can see how their classmates appreciated their ideas. It’s a small way to remind them that others see their insight, humor, and thoughtfulness. Giving them that little confidence boost right when they need it most is really fun.
That’s so awesome! Have you seen any student “breakthroughs” or “ah-ha moments”?
I’ve seen two ends of the spectrum this year, and something similar happened last year, too. One student is naturally outgoing, and they are supremely invested. Early on, they tended to dominate discussions. I think they felt any dead airtime was their responsibility to fill.
As part of the debrief, I always ask: Whose voice did you hear the most? Whose voice did you hear the least? And I have them reflect on that. In their most recent survey, that student wrote, “I’ve gotten much better at sharing airtime and being a much more active listener. I’ve realized my voice is not the only one I need to be paying attention to.” I thought, amazing—love that.
On the other end, I have one of the quietest students I’ve ever taught. They still struggle with getting into the R.E.A.L. Discussions. But one thing that’s been really empowering for that student is that all the other students consistently give them the most shoutouts. Even if they only speak twice in a 25–30 minute conversation, the thing they said is what sticks out to their peers.
R.E.A.L. is going to be different for every student because each student has different strengths and challenges. What I love about it is that the entire spectrum of students – from the most talkative to the least talkative – can find something to take away from this practice and celebrate about themselves and their classmates.
That’s so cool to hear about the growth on both sides of the spectrum, especially about the student who didn’t speak much. I think self-silencing is also very common.
I agree. Some think, “I can only share if it’s perfect.” R.E.A.L. helps with that. One of my favorite stats on my dashboard is how many students have said that they are willing to change their minds as we go through this. I’m lucky that Berkeley Carroll has a truly amazing community, and our kids are mostly very kind to each other. But it’s really wonderful to see that they can go into a discussion thinking, “This is my opinion and everything that I say is right,” and then by the end of the discussion, recognize that there are other perspectives.
How amazing for a 9th or 10th grader to go into a class thinking that something they hear from a peer might change their mind and that they might learn from them!
That’s one of the things I really like; it ties into my top three learning goals for discussion.
Of course, you want them to deepen their understanding of content, but for me, I want them to do that by hearing alternative perspectives. I want them to articulate their own thoughts to an audience, including by disagreeing. And then I want them to engage in curiosity. I want them to do this because they are interested in it, not because I’m telling them they have to. I want them to figure out how to be curious, not just about the content that’s in front of them, or the assignment that I’ve assigned, but rather, about what other people think about that thing. That is one of my priorities, and it’s been paying off, for sure, with R.E.A.L.
Maggie iuni, English teacher at Berkeley Carroll School
Last question: Do you have a favorite quote or one that has been inspiring to you lately?
I find inspiration in everything! As an English teacher, I really do feel like you can find inspiration from anywhere. As I’m starting to think about prepping Sula for the fourth quarter, I’ve been thinking a lot about Toni Morrison’s quote, ”If you are free, you need to free somebody else.” And I’ve been thinking a lot about that in terms of what does that mean to a society? What does that mean to me? How are we defining free? And how can I help empower others in that way? I might not be able to free somebody economically, but how can I empower this person to understand a little bit more about who they are, where they come from, and what they want out of life?
That quote has been sticking with me. It’s something that I’ve been inspired by and still try to parse out.
Feels like that comes full circle back to your why.
Yes. It does!
It was such a delight to get to talk with you, Maggie. Thank you for sharing your R.E.A.L. wisdom with us!
