This paper analyzes verbal interactions between teachers and students to determine the speaking and listening skills which a teacher must possess. A simple model of classroom verbal interaction presents four possibilities: a) teacher-initiated conversation, b) pupil-initiated conversation, c) teacher response to pupil, and d) pupil response to teacher and/or another pupil. These four modes of classroom interaction permit 12 transitional possibilities from one mode to the other. In order to facilitate these transitions, the teacher must have the ability to a) inventory pupil ideas; b) reiterate, paraphrase, or expand on pupil ideas; c) relate pupil ideas to his own; d) react constructively to unexpected student statements; e) give criticism in a constructive manner; f) introduce his own ideas in ways which do not inhibit student participation; g) ask questions which generate student thinking; h) express and explain his own ideas clearly; and i) guide conversations according to models of inductive and deductive reasoning. (HMD)