Watching the crests is a little like listening for the laughter to reach its high point after someone has told a joke. The skilled storyteller knows to hold the next joke until the laughter begins to fall. The skilled professor knows to make a summation when the discourse has started to ebb. In practical terms, this means that a professor should be prepared to enter a two-week discussion at least four times for the purpose of partial summations. In each summation, the professor must validate the salient ideas that have emerged in the conversation, bring up ideas that have not occurred in the discourse necessary to advancing the dialogue, point students to each other, and then offer the comments necessary to carry on the conversation.
Summation is the step in which all the other steps meet.
It is a tool of great merit to those seeking interaction in a classroom. Never forget that your job is that of instructor as well as facilitator. It is up to you to move the class's discussions to the next level. When making your all important summations, take the time to point to how the discussion is moving toward a higher level of understanding. Then, carefully phrase your comments and questions to lead the discourse toward the level of understanding your students need to achieve to come to terms with the topic, the material, and where you are taking the course.