How do you deal with students who don't want to be called on? Most all of my students are great and enjoy participating in class discussions but I've had a couple of students get mad at my calling on them to share their knowledge about course subject matter. They've expressed disgust either by a physical gesture of flopping around body language, verbally loud "ahhh!" sounds and one student actually saying, "why are you picking on me?", when our class size has been only 3-6 students and I'm going through the group and treating everyone equally. I've tried explaining that part of their grade is based on classroom participation, that employers ask us to also teach 'soft skills' which includes interaction between group members and collaborative learning. When the student has acted this way the other students have looked a bit shocked or uncomfortable and I don't care to have my classroom to be filled with negative energy. Should I just not call on them and let them know upfront that since this seems to bother them so much that I won't call on them but their grade will reflect their lack of participation? I believe one student dropped the class after the first day before I ever had a chance to address the issue with them. Would you have any suggestions, perhaps a technique that motivates them with a carrot rather than a stick?