class discussions
During class discussions it is important to involve every student, the quiet or non participating students are often the ones who are not getting the information they need to be successful in the class
Hi John,
What a great way to make it real for your students since you will have just lived it over the weekend. I can only imagine the stories you have as a result of dealing with the public.
Gary
I also find Mondays a challenge. I am a Restaurant Dining Room instructor at present and during the weekends, I work a second job in a Dining Room setting of a restaurant. Every Monday, without fail, I have a story from the weekend to tell my students on Monday. It's usually humorous yet always relative to their studies and it's become the anticipation of Mondays to hear what craziness went on during my weekend employment.
Hi Lolita,
You are right and I think this is a big advantage to online courses. Everyone can compose and respond in a timely manner without feeling put on the spot. Sounds like you are doing a good job of drawing your students out in your courses.
Gary
One of the benefits of online instruction is the opportunity to 'hear' from everyone in the class. The quiet students have an opportunity to think through their responses before posting. No one is caught off guard and embarrassed.
I agree, it keeps them on their toes. You just never know if your next.
Hi Brandi,
This is a good point about taking a little time to let the students talk about their lives outside of the class. It helps get them settled into the class and ready to learn.
Gary
In order to keep the students involved, I try to start each class asking them about their weekend, or evening, etc. We don't spend a lot of time on these topics, but it seems to help the students know that we, as instructors, are interested in them, not just the revenue they bring to the school. Additionally, they seem to participate more in class discussions when they see that the instructors truly care about them.
Hi Glynis,
What a great and effective instructional tool he used. As you say he had the attention of students because he had put forth the effort to memorize their names, plus it helped him to maintain class control by being able to call out their names.
Gary
I once had a professor memorize my name as well as the other 250 other students' names in a week. He'd call out the talkers by name to keep us all engaged. It really worked in keeping us all focused, as well as boosting self-esteem by recalling something as important as our names.
Hi David,
Good way to read human behavior and to bring into the discussion those that need to be brought in and to redirect those that would control the discussion. Movement throughout the classroom/lab is a good way to help keep the focus of the class on the topic and you and the educational leader.
Gary
I am a classroom walker so I will navigate around the room and try to involve everyone into the discussion. Sometimes just standing by and observing what they are writing down during a discussion gives me an idea of what to ask to get their involvement. Sometimes just changing the course of the discussion and direct the question towards the non talker seems to get their involvement easily. Just recognizing them once in a while seems to calm their fears after a period of time.
Hi James,
You are right about instructors having to bring the quiet ones into the discussion. It is easy to get wrapped up in the answers from the vocal students and forget that you have several other students that have opinions that haven't been heard.
Gary
Hi Guy,
This is a good idea. It also keeps all of the students engaged because their name might be the next one called.
Gary
It's up to the instructor to bring the quiet ones into the discussion. During a group discussion have the inst. ask questions to specific people.
I use the "call them by name method" as opposed to throwing a general question to the whole class.If I use the latter method only a few people always answer. Calling by name usually gets a better response and if I have a shy student I try to feed them an easy question to help build their confidence.
I try to make it like we are sitting out back on the tail gate and B/S ing.
Hi Mark,
I think easing them into the class is important because I know my evening students need a bit of a breather as they transition from work to school. Those few minutes spent on chatting and light exchanges really help to set the stage for a good evening of learning.
Gary
I agree. I teach classes mainly in the evening and most of my students have come from "day jobs" and need a little easing into the learning environment.
They are not typically ready to go right at class time so by asking them questions about their day or weekend and then working in a few questions about the previous class with me they come back to the learning world. There are nights where we have so much to do we just have to jump right in but I still try to give them a little time to work into the night routine.
Hi Marianna,
The "soft" approach is an excellent way to bring the students back into the learning mode. It is even better since you can use what you teach as a connection between their lives outside of school and what is happening inside the classroom.
Gary
