Saturday, September 29, 2012
calling on students
I haven't been as purposeful about his as perhaps I should be. I try to make sure I call on a range of kids as much as possible. Whenever someone who I know is generally pretty quiet raises his/her hand, I make sure I call on that student. We don't have sticks that we draw, although I guess I could make some. It hasn't felt like a necessity because the kids are all very eager to share and participate throughout the day. Even the quieter ones have subjects that they like better and will raise their hands in. I guess sticks could be useful for keeping kids accountable in subjects where they aren't as naturally comfortable.
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Do you think you haven't been purposeful about the strategies you have for calling on kids because you don't need to be? In other words, you have a sense that you "work the room" during whole group discussions and that you're getting responses from a wide swath of kids? With the big classes at LHUC, I'm not sure how reasonable it is to expect to get responses from a majority of the kids in a whole group discussion. What do you think? The small groups you use are much more effective, and you can ensure that you're hearing from everyone in that instructional setting. Participation is a key component of engagement, but whole group instruction/discussion is rarely the context to encourage genuine participation.
ReplyDeleteStill, being aware of how you call on students, and how often, is a valuable focus of attention. When you do your TPA videotaping, you may see some "tendencies" that surprise you!