It Pays to Talk

One of my biggest challenges this semester has been finding ways in which I can engage all of my students in the classroom. In one of my sections, there are about 4 people that help lead discussions and provide their input when I ask the class a question.

• The individual that speaks the most frequent is a non-traditional student who owns 3 businesses. He is a white male. His work is excellent and he tends to make conversation with me the moment I walk into the classroom. 
• My second student, who I have mentioned a few times in the blog posts before, is a young, black female. While she adds to the discussion frequently, she usually gives me extremely honest answers and is not afraid to let me know when she does not care about the material. 
• My third student is a young, white female. She turns in her homework the day it is assigned, has never missed a class period, and gives me incredible nonverbal listening skills. While she is extremely quiet, she will speak up if she knows that I want more student participation.
• My fourth student that helps lead discussion is a young, black female who sits in the very back of the class. She spends most of the class period on her computer, but I have noticed that she will speak up every now and then, especially when discussing about politics. She is very inconsistent with her work, but when she does turn her work in, it is above and beyond what is required.

While I appreciate their enthusiasm, it tends to limit the opportunities for others to speak in the classroom.

Elizabeth Bell and Kim Golombisky discussed a tactic in which teachers can welcome all voices and encourage them to become more active in participating in discussions. "If a few individuals continue to dominate some classes, we may have "pay to talk" days. Distributing three pennies to each student at the beginning of class, we announce, 'To talk in class today you must pay a penny, and you must spend all your pennies. So think about what your comment is worth in the culture of this classroom.' Our most vocal students have to weigh their contributions carefully when limited to three chances to speak."

Although the semester is nearly over, this is an activity I plan to implement in my classroom if the problem arises again. It is so important to as a teacher to make sure they are doing everything they can to help cultivate a classroom in which all voices are heard and appreciated. This teaching philosophy reminds me of a specific drill we use to do during soccer practice. If one of our teammates was scoring most of the goals during practice or handling the ball (even if they were successful) we were required to pass to other people in order to score the goal. This not only created more opportunities for others to participate in scoring a goal, it also helped build stronger trust within the team and allowed individuals to be spotlighted for their achievements.

#Pedagoalie