Teacher Resources: Things That Work

GETTING STUDENTS ACTIVELY INVOLVED IN CLASS
by Carol Bork

Some students don't do well in writing classes because they are not involved enough in the processes of the class.  When they go home to write their papers, they have nothing to draw on, because they have been only passive observers, rather than active participants in the class.  Here are some suggestions for getting students more involved in class:

1. Ask students to write on the board.  If you are having a full-class discussion, ask students, several at a time, to take 10-minute shifts at the board, writing down important ideas.  Tell them it's okay if they duplicate each other's work.  The point (in terms of their responsibility) is to get as much as possible on the board; simultaneously, these students will be obliged to pay closer attention to the discussion, and will be actively contributing to the success of the class.  Alternatively, if you are having small group discussions, you can include a step that involves writing on the board.  (incidentally, this also helps to get "slow" groups up to speed, because they see that other groups are ahead of them.)  You might ask students to establish a list of important terms and write in on the board, to define a term and write the definition on the board, or to choose a significant passage from the text and write the passage on the board. 

2. In full-class discussion, ask each student who speaks to choose the next speaker.  Students often feel more comfortable participating in response to another student's request, than answering the teacher's question.

3. When small groups report, assign several students in advance to ask questions of each group after they report.  If students know in advance that they are "on call" to ask questions, they will be more engaged with the class.

4. When small groups report, arrange a "panel" of chairs at the front of the room.  I usually start rearranging the furniture while the groups are still working, so that they see that they will be on the "panel," addressing an audience.  The "panel" format has produced some of my best classroom moments. 

5. Tell students in advance that, when their small groups report, every member of the group must say something.  About 5 minutes before you ask the groups to report, remind them that they need to make decisions about who will say what.

6. Always recognize every serious effort to participate as beneficial to class discussion.  Find ways to reward students when they make a clear effort to be involved in class discussion.   Even if a student is "wrong," we can find ways to make use of every student comment.  (For example, "Pat has pointed to an important passage.  Let's all spend some time working with this passage to see if we can text Pat's idea."