One of my professional development goals is to engage the students in discussion more often. Too many days the kids are sitting in class like bumps on a log. The first strategey I am employing is to use "name cards" to get kids to anser questions. These are a class set of notecards with each students name on a sepertae card. Whenever I ask a question, I can pull the top card and ask that student specifically. Then I give the student a plus for answering correctly, a check for attempting to answer, and a minus if they did not attempt to answer at all. This takes the pressure off me to choose students to speak in class and takes pressure off students because they know they all have to participate equally.
I introduced this to my students at the end of last week. There was a unanimous groan. But it made my job as a teacher much easier, since I could focus on teaching more than stressing about who will answer the next question. I am only using these cards as scaffolding and hopefully my students will internalize the purpose of the cards and begin to speak more freely in my classes.
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Ok, so I only used these cards a day or two. They just seemed silly to me. I didn't use them long enough to see any improvement in class participation, but that is my fault. I did not use them long enough for the kids to get used to them. My class is speaking more anyway. They ask me when we can have disucssions and debates all the time. I think just getting use to me and my teaching style helped with participation. Now I can look at kids and know whether or not they understand. I can tell by how kids look at me if they know the answer or are confused. I know which kids are too shy to talk, even though they know the answer. I coax these kids into the conversation easily, so they feel welcome instead of pressured. I know which kids talk too much, and I teach them to let others have a turn as well. I think knowing my class and being a good teacher works better than the "name crads," but it was worth a try!
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