My first class involves all students coming to the front and being interviewed on written questions by another student and myself. I reinforce the idea that speaking in front of an audience is important to any career advancement. I also ask them "Who coined the phrase 5 mins of fame?" and tell them that they ill all be that much more famous after my class. Break the ice and encourages participation. For the really shy it is a trial but peer encouragement and humor always helps.
I agree that the silent student can do well in a small group setting. I like the idea of a panel and will use that in my class, immediately.
Hi Jacqueline,
Great job! Try having a private friendly conversation with her and tell her how SMART she is and the POTENTIAL she has. Let her know you want her to get her full money's worth, therefore she needs to be vocal in class.
Patricia
Yes I also incorporate small groups to help this and also. You can also ask shorter response questions such a "do you agree" or "did you find that also?" getting them to respond with yes or no at first to initiate participation which will increase confidence. When asking a question I write it on the board and give 10-15 minutes of writing time for students to write answers down on paper before discussing it with class mates this helps them feel prepared and not put on the spot.
On the first quiz I give in class I ask the students to write down some goals for the class, what they want to learn and anything they would like me to know about them. this has been very helpful dealing with the students who would other wise turn into silent students. I am able to find out if some one just does not like to talk in a group or what might be going on.
Small groups do work well. Another tactic I use is to engage the student before or after class to get to know a little bit about them and tactfully discuss their silence. I also have each student present a current event 3 or 4 times throughout the course and with my guidance I frequently see the silent ones open up.
I have a silent student in one of my classes. It has gotten to the point that I am not sure if she is understanding the material that I am going over in class. I will ask her and she always just shakes her head yes that she understands. Then exams come and I can tell by her grade on her exam that she does not understand the material. I try so hard to get her involved and still she stays silent. It wasn't until recently that I started just giving her compliments on how she looks or even compliments on how well she is doing on a quiz or if she does say an answer I will say good job see how smart you are! Lately that has been helping a lot and it moved her from the back of the room to very front of the room. Her broher has also enrolled in the program and that has helped a lot with her interacting in class. Again it moved her from sitting way in the back to being right up front. Just this last week she has shown more confidence and is answering questions a little more. I would just like to see a little more participation. According to her brother she is not like this at home so I told him to get her more involved and that she's very smart she just needs to speak up more and get involved more. Since saying that she has a little more than what she was which was nothing at all. I would even set mandatory tutoring and she would not show up for it at all. Hopefully this is the session that will get her out of her shell! So far its working.
I always do class discussion and involve the quiet ones.
I was never a silent student (I was more the center stage type) so it's always been difficult for me to identify with those who never speak in class... determining whether they are shy, unprepared, or bored. I like the strategy outlined in this course, to involve them in small groups and student panels, allowing their fellow students to draw them out. Also, where possible, I like to develop a friendly relationship of trust with these students, talking to them before class, and encouraging them when and where I can.
Giving a special project like helping with a demonstration, then relaying the information they learned to the rest of the class seems to work really well.
I like to get students involved and get to know each other, since they will be in most of the classes together. Every class when taking attendance I will as them a question about themselves, such as their favorite movie, or if they won the lottery and money was no object where and what would they on a vacation? This opens discussions and I will also answer the questions so they can see the instructors are human as well.
I have one specific student in mind when addressing this question - This student had a habit of saving all of his questions until the end of class and as the other students were leaving he would come up and go through these questions with me. This posed a problem from the standpoint that I had my next class to get to and therefore felt I didn't have adequate time to answer the questions. More importantly, however, as I explained to the student, these questions would benefit the other students as well and I encouraged him to ask the questions as he thought of them in class. When he did not begin asking questions in class I became more focused on his reactions/facial expressions, could pick up cues indicating he had a question, and began asking him directly if he had a question. It took a few times with me directly asking him for him to come around and admit that he had questions, but it did work. In the last course in which I had this student he was remarkably different in that he is much more open and readily asks question/makes comments, etc. He has definitely come "out of his shell" and has valuable input.
I think the small group and panel idea is good. The silent student will do better if the topic is of interest to him/her and one that he has had success/experience in. Confidence is a key factor.
In order to help a silent student I think you should assist them in participation. Ask them a question which may be relatively easy to answer so that it will give them confidence to do it again
Small groups takes presure off the student and prepares him for speaking in larger groups,also positive reinforcemnt works well.
Hi Patricia,
Whenever possible it is a good thing to have smaller groups. Smaller groups tend to bring out the best in everyone because you are a big fish in a small pond.
Patricia
I am a proponent of the small group activities to engage all students. There are always those students who are more than willing to speak up in class and those who prefer to sit quietly. It is important to involve every student. Small group activities are less intimidating to the quiet student and a great way to motivate that student to share thoughts and insights.
I like the idea of forming small groups, especially when they can alternate resposibilities within the group. I keep track and each group member has to perform in each role. For example; at some time every memeber fo the group takes on the role of leader.
eye contact, always saying good morning and creating criticle thinking groups
I also use this the small group approach in teaching Accounting.
I als assign a research project that each student presents to the class. This project serves a two fold purpose: learning an Accounting topic and practicing presentation skills.
