January
Raise Your Hand:
Encouraging Students To Speak Up in Class
Grades 7-12
How many classes in a school day are fun, interactive classes—a place for bouncing ideas off one another in a point/counter-point lively interactive learning forum? Sadly, the answer is not too many, if none at all.
Most classrooms exist in the lecture-listen format, which means that in order to interact within the classroom, students have to raise their hand—it’s the only way to ask questions, to solicit comments, to get feedback, and to become an active participant in the classroom!
But many students are hesitant to put their hand up in class. It’s risky business—attracting attention and running the risk of being wrong, or even ridiculed in front of the class.
Still, putting your hand up in class is a risk worth taking. Here’s why:
- It can signal the teacher that you have something to add, or that you need clarification
- It helps you become an active participant in your education
- It tells the teacher that you are paying attention, and thinking about what is being taught
- It shows that you are relating this new information to other information
Raising your hand—whether you are called on or not, or if you know the answer or not—helps you to gain a better understanding of the subject matter. Understanding the material is better than memorizing it—memorization only gets you through a test. Understanding is for life.
Raise your hand if you want to really learn.
Read related articles: Positive thinking and Confidence and Cheating
Read More »
Raise Your Hand:
Encouraging Students To Speak Up in Class
Grades1-6
For students who are too shy, too hesitant, or too unwilling to speak out in class, the results can mean poor grades and poor classroom participation marks. Those poor grades can make self-esteem plummet and make the child even less willing to raise his hand. It’s a vicious cycle.
So how can parents encourage even the most timid children to become active participants in the classroom?
- Reinforce the idea that it’s okay not to know something.
- Involve your child in a group or activity where they routinely have to speak up.
- Talk to the teacher about your child’s reluctance to draw attention to him or herself.
- Help your child understand that it’s okay to be wrong.
- Make sure your child understands that asking questions in class does not mean that she is stupid!
- Encourage your child to speak with the teacher after class
Like so much else in life, the ability to stop and ask for help when it’s needed is a learned skill—one that can help students end frustration and become a better learner.
But, it takes time to be able to confidently state that something is not understood. Putting up a hand in class to say, “can you repeat that?” is a step towards becoming a better, more confident student.
Please read some related articles on Paying Attention and Shyness.
Read More »
New Year’s Resolutions: Academic-Style
An Every Student’s Top Eleven Guide to Ultimate Academic Resolutions for 2008 for a Better School Year:
- I resolve to do my homework every night
- I resolve to not leave studying for a test until the last minute
- I resolve to write down my homework and assignments in my agenda
- I resolve to not be shy and to put up my hand and ask questions in class when I don’t understand
- I resolve to take better notes and to read over my notes every night, even when I don’t have homework
- I resolve to ask for help when I need it
- I resolve to read more
- I resolve to eat foods that are more nutritious and better for my brain
- I resolve to get more sleep
- I resolve to turn the music off when I’m studying
- I resolve to be an active learner
Read More »