center stage student
wonderful idea to have that kind of student to be an observer to keep him focus on something like taking notes to be ready when you call on him and minimize the instructors distraction
Yes, thank you. It hadn't occurred to me to use them to that extent. I usually love these center stage students for their enthusiasm but we all know that they can quickly cross the line into "draining" to both us and the class. I'm going to experiment with the assistant approach. I think it will be a positive thing for all involved.
Hi Donna,
Center stage students must be kept busy and feel a sense of importance in their task. They make excellent assistants; utlize them.
Patricia
Yes, I'm with you on the "observer" idea. I find that if you give a center stage student some kind of task that makes him/her feel part of something positive and also keeps him/her busy, it gives you back the time to work with the rest of the class. Great idea! very positive...
In my math class if a student shouts out the answer to a problem then the ones who haven't finished yet just quit and never know if they could work it. I remind the student to let the others finish. Sometimes they will mouth the answer at me just to reassure themselves that they are right. Sometimes I will call on one side of the room so that a group doesn't dominate either.
I am pretty similar on this one. I like many questions. If the center stage person doesn't stop I will ask them to hold their question and talk with me personally on break.
one of the class activities I like to do is, once a week one of the students has to do a short class demo. I have found that it helps the quite ones come out of there shell, and make the center stage student have to also listen to their peers.
I had 2 center stage students getting a D at midterm, I placed them right in front of me where I could monitor their behavior better, I also pushed them from the start to the end of class, they ended up getting a B .
i have two students and they are both center stage at times it gets quite loud in my class and there are only two of them. i give them the first 15-20 minutes to talk and then i get class started i have found this keeps the talking to a minimum and the interuptions to a minimum
Hi Jeff,
I really like for my students to ask as many questions as they need to in order to get to a level of understanding. If the student has way too many questions during class time, I will get with the students after class to entertain questions.
Patricia
In my experience, I have encountered a number of center stage students. Most have been beneficial because they often increase the class dynamic and actually promote student discussion. But as the course pointed out, you do have to some times 'reign them in'. I have found that by discussing with them the importance of CLASS participation, that they often tend to be understanding of my intention. But this needs to be addressed in a one-on-one situation. Pointing it out in class can imply negativity as though they are being punished, which may get the students influenced by their energy to "clam up".
Observer is a much better idea then the card idea. Using cards to limit the number of questions a student can ask may prevent a good comment or question from being asked because the student has run out of cards.
