Silent Students
I've found that most silent students just sit there and quietly fail for some reason or another. Some are forced to be there, and some are just afraid of asking questions. It is up to us to reach out and find out what that student needs in order to make sure they are fullfilled.
Hi Nicholas,
Absolutely! We have to reach out to all students, especially the quiet ones. Quiet students will take a back seat approach and be fine with it. You have to encourage quiet students to become involved.
Patricia Scales
I seek to involve all students in each class session. Sometimes, this requires me to give each student a turn to participate equally.
Agreed. It is up to us to engage them. I have found that the group activities are the best for this.
It's not always possible or relevant to have group activities in my classes, so I usually try to find opportunities to call on the silent student to give an answer, but in ways that aren't scary and intimidating;; perhaps right after I have gotten the class to laugh, so it's a better experience for the student than being put on the spot.
Very true. I had two students who were silent all through one of my classes and failed their final exam and the class as a whole. I spoke with them privately and asked if they would be willing to do a presentation summarizing the class they had failed for the incoming class. They agreed and both did a great job. I'm happy to say that their extra effort earned them both a passing grade and has helped them to be more responsive in their current class.
For the shy student, I have found a way to get them to speak up that seems non-threatening. As I am monitoring students working, I will pay special attention to what the shy student is doing and pick out one very good/interesting detail of what they have done. I will somewhat quietly give them kudos and ask them if they would be willing to tell the class what they did in this case. They will almost always be proud of what they did and want to let the class know. If they don't want to speak, I tell them that I'd like to point out the neat thing they did to the class because the class would really benefit from that approach - they almost always will let me do that and the next time they may even volunteer to tell the class when I ask if they would.
