As one who was silent for many years I can appreciate this topic. I was personally helped when my past instructors limited the size of the workgroups that I was assigned to. I find that it helps the person, as I was, who feels shy and awkward to express themselves in a less threatening environment. In reducing the size of groups to 5 or 6 students, I was more at ease articulating myself. I find that this is still true of today's student. They seemingly, in my experience, thrive when groups are smaller.
Building rapport is absolutely essential. This helps them to feel more comfortable with the instructor and helps the instructor to learn a little bit about the student. As the student becomes more comfortable, attempting to draw them into discussions will become more easy.
Group activities seem to be the best method for me. Getting them out of their comfort zone and assign them to be group/team leads. This I find gets them involved and out of their "quiet zone".
I always remind my students that they should take the opportunity of breaking out of their shell while they are in a classroom environment because after a few classes they usually become more comfortable with their fellow students. I constantly remind them that it will make it easier for their confidence to grow if they can learn to express their point of view among their peers.
Hi Jeff,
I certainly understand your perspective. I make it a point to call on all students on a daily basis and make small talk with all to ensure that I am treated all the same.
Patricia
I agree , I always stress there is no " wrong " answer , it's just not the one I am looking for. I'll even discuss how their answer might fit in with the subject. This gets students to open up without the fear of being told their answer is wrong. I also make it a point to ask individual students for the answer I am looking for , and then open it up to the class.
At the beginning of a new class I'll explain that I will be asking many rhetorical questions that I want them all to think about. I'll directly ask a silent student an easy question to answer rather than opening up to the entire class. I'll continue this until I think they are ready to engage with the rest of the students. By stressing the rhetorical nature of the question , I get to ask who answers and get all students to think about it.
Hi Kim,
As a rule, I never criticize students or belittle them in any way. Students will shut down on you if you hurt their feelings in any way, especially the shy/silent students.
Patricia
Hi Blake,
I like your idea of arriving to class on time. I also like how you make a special effort to converse with your shy students. Shy students will open up a little more whenver they feel they have a rapport with you.
Patricia
Im also a big fan of breaking students into groups early on. Sometimes silent students just need to know they can speak without being subject to critisim. This may take a couple of classes. I try to get all students to answer questions. I also tell personal stories to break the ice and start discussion.
Separate them into smaller groups so that the interactive behavior is less intimidating.
Group activities. I like the idea of including them in a panel discussion and telling all panelists beforehand that they need to make contributions to total at least a certain amount of time, but it need not be all at once. For example, 5 minutes of various comments.
Good evening, Patricia! Looking over the responses thus far, I dunno….
If I give too much attention to a silent student, then that breaks one of the principles mentioned in course material--emphasizing consistency, as in a consistent approach to include every student in the course. Other students will be quick to note that Faculty A always talks with Student B and not realize that he or she is doing so because the student is silent.
Often I have experienced that the silent student just asks to be quiet, and that’s it. The silent student may be quiet because he or she knows his or her stuff thoroughly and is embarrassed to respond to each and every question and comment from the faculty member. I would need to respect that student’s silence; in fact, doing so helps the other students to see that I would not always call on smart and silent Student B when they haven’t read the textbook and rely on the silent one to respond.
Comments?
I always arrive to class at least 10 minutes before the start time if not more. I will usually make an attempt to engage in conversation with the "quite ones" before class starts to make them feel a little more comfortable. Once class does start, I have found they usually are a little more engaged, especially if the topic covered in your conversation was similar to the topic brought up in the beginning of class.
Hi Rachael,
Shy students tend to be more interactive in smaller settings. I like to make a special effort to have small talk with silent students daily to work on rapport building.
Patricia
Hi Pascale,
Building a rapport with a shy student can really help the shy student open up to you.
Patricia
I approached them and tried to get to know them. Somtimes it just because they are shy and I create activities that involved working in groups and I monitored them.
I think the best way is to break the class into small discussion groups.
Hi Ray,
Paying compliments to sudents really make them feel good about themselves. A lot of our shy students have very low self confidence. As the instructor, let us do what we can to boost self esteem.
Patricia
I would have them work in a small group of individuals for a group project. And compliment them of the work they have done
