Kelly Peak

Self-Study
April 2019
Motivating Students too Reluctant to Share

FOCUS AREA

I found it difficult to do a simple observation of student’s knowledge when students in

the classroom were reluctant or not willing to offer their knowledge and ideas during the class
discussions. This problem became apparent rather quickly since only half of the student body
had their hands in the air ready to offer or share their ideas and knowledge on a routine base.
Therefore, this problem leads me to the topic of motivating reluctant students.

To begin this study, I developed a checklist as a tool to track the students who
participated during class discussions throughout the day. This was designed to ensure that
what I had observed before the self-study was an accurate reflection of who raised their hands
frequently and who were not raising their hands to share information or answers to the
teachers or my questions. This concerned me that one of the problems could be that students
lacked confidence with what they had to share and that they had not found the intrinsic reward
from sharing their thoughts and ideas in front of the entire class.

STRATEGIES

Strategy One: Getting To Know Your Student's Academic Strength and Weaknesses.
To understand why students were reluctant to share or offer to share their knowledge
of the topic being discussed, I looked over their homework grades and test scores from
previous weeks; I needed to find where they were academically and which subjects seemed to
be their strongest. In doing so, it was evident that the majority of the students who were not
offering to share their knowledge during class discussions did not demonstrate an academic
weakness based on their grade averages. For those who were the outliers in the range of
scores, I had already noticed that they were students who processed slower than the majority
of the class or who were students with straight A’s. However, the speed in which one process
information did not seem to be a factor in whether or not the students raised their hands and
offered to share their ideas. But what I couldn’t determine was precisely why a select group of
average students were reluctant to participate in class discussions. It was observed that this
group of students was engaged and on task during class discussion. This group of students
even worked well in small groups or pairs with the students of their choice. So, by studying
the student's academic scores, I determined that their scores had no bearing on their
reluctance to share in a whole group discussion.
 Strategy Two: Encouragement
Encouragement is nothing more than using positive talk to build one's self-esteem and
an offering of hope in a supportive manner. The more one encourages another to try their best
the more likely the other person will seek the rewards of success.
Benefits
Encouraging participation during discussion benefits learning through sharing and
making mistakes generates greater opportunities for learning. The main point of this strategy
was to get students familiar with taking risks and feeling ok when their answers or what they
had to share was not a hundred percent accurate. So, to do this, it is essential to “normalize the
errors” the students and yourself make during class discussions before, during and after
teaching (Cecil 2007). In the beginning, I first pointed out my own errors to the students and
explained that making mistakes is part of our learning. I was hopeful that this type of
encouragement would promote reluctant students to share during class discussions if they
were not feeling judged by their mistakes.
In addition to making casual comments of encouragement, I often referred to the
students as being the “teacher at the moment.” The purpose of this was to help alleviate some
of the anxiety of talking in front of peers, due to their opportunity to see themselves as the
leader. This step was also thought to be a tool for helping students pay more attention to what
others have to say and inspiring those who wish to share to be more precise’ about the topic
they are willing to discuss. A second underlining purpose for doing so helps instill the concept
that each student can be an active member of the learning community and what they have to
offer is important.
I also, continue to add to each discussion a topic to help promote the mindset needed to
be successful in the classroom. In doing so, I would add that it is ok if some doesn’t quite get
the concept or is off track with what is being asked. By saying that it is ok not to be 100%
accurate all the time helps to ease any built up anxiety of not knowing the answer while
speaking in front of the group. Therefore, having a simple conversation such as this one aids in
shifting the student's mindset and builds self-confidence (Dweck).
On a side note, I would like to add that we as educators should take into account
everything the students are saying or not saying, and use it as a learning experience. We never
know if other students are thinking the same and if we don’t voice it or use it as a learning
experience, then that would leave more students not understanding. So, learning from our
mistakes is just as significant as having the right answer the first time. Giving the students the
idea that no matter what they have to offer in the conversation is worth disclosing because
your encouraging words are helpful with alleviating some of the anxiety associated with
speaking in front of others.
Drawback
The only drawback to encouraging students to share their ideas and become part of the
teaching community is that it is easy to lose track of time. Students who are comfortable
speaking in front of others can easily take the conversation in different directs which makes it
difficult to keep the discussion directed to the topic on hand.

Strategy Three: Name Sticks

As I continued searching for the one strategy that worked the best I found the use of the
name sticks seemed to help get students to share their ideas with the classroom. Name sticks is
a simple popsicle stick with each students name written on it. They are placed in a cup and used
to draw individuals names at random.
At first, the reluctant students would hesitate to share what they were thinking, so to
keep them from feeling pressured, I incorporated a short wait time as I drew the students name
from a cup. I hoped to provide additional time for students to get their thought in order before
being called on.
As an addition to the use of the name sticks and due to my cooperative teacher's
suggestion, I offered the students being called upon an opt-out if they didn’t know or feel
confident with the information they were being asked to share. To execute the opt-out
promptly, the students had to pick a student who had their hand raised which suggested they
wanted to share.
At the beginning of using the name sticks, several students throughout the day choose
the opt out. But the longer I used the name sticks, the more the students were getting
accustomed to the method of being called upon, and fewer of the reluctant students would not
ask for an opt-out. In fact, I saw more smiles on their faces when their name was called, and
the number of students who raise their hands had increased when the name sticks were not
being utilized, leading to more students offering their ideas with less hesitance than in the
beginning. It even eliminated the “Oh; you always call on her” comment.
To take this study one step farther and to help aid in getting students to begin to feel
confident when their name was called, I add two more strategies into the mix.

Benefits
Using name sticks helps keep the class from only hearing ideas and knowledge of from
the same few students who are willing to contribute to the class discussion. It aids in assessing
students’ knowledge through verbal feedback on a more consistent basis. It also helps keep
students engaged and better prepared to answer questions when called on because students
do not prefer to be embarrassed in front of their peers and not knowing when it will be their
turn to share their ideas or add to the discussion. Therefore, this added pressure keeps them on
top of the conversation and thinking about their answers throughout the lesson.
 The addition, the short wait time while pulling name sticks also allows the student time
to collect their thoughts and prepare for answering the questions.
Drawback
However, there is a downfall in using name sticks. According to the perspective of my
CT, the use of name sticks created anxiety and did not increase the student’s willingness to
share. Therefore, to make a firm decision in connection to continue with this process, I had the
students take a vote about whether they like the use of name sticks during the discussion so
everyone had an equal chance to share their ideas or if they caused anxiety and would prefer
me not to use them.
The process of voting was completed by having students placing their heads on their
desk with their eyes closed so that the students felt their vote was private and no one could
purposely sway the vote one way or another. The result from the vote was ten students for the
name sticks and eighteen students against the use of name sticks. Even though I felt this was
an excellent opportunity to get those to share, I honored the teachers and students request not
to use the name sticks.
To clarify, I do agree that there can be an onset of anxiety through the use of the name
stick and it is an issue that needs to be addressed. But as I have learned, the more one faces
their fears and pushes through the anxiety the more they grow from their experiences (Dweck).
Also, the more practice one has or, the more conditioning they endure to work through
problems the more likely they will overcome the onset of the anxiety. I believe that over
protecting students at an early age only teaches (conditions) them to fail later in there
academics when learning becomes even more pressured for accuracy.
In addition to the drawbacks in this strategy is the use of the opt-out. Doug Lemov
mentions a “No opt-out” strategy which demonstrates that he too is against the opt-out as an
option for not sharing in class discussion. It is important to note that students benefit from
hearing themselves succeed by getting answers right. So, when opting-out is an option,
students are less likely to feel the success in getting answers right. As Bill Cecila suggests, it
removes the “internal intrinsic reward.”

STRATEGY FOUR: COLD CALL

Cold Call is a strategy where students are not expected to raise their hand, and the
teacher uses his or her discretion for deciding whom and when a student is called upon to
add to the class discussions or answer leading questions.
As I incorporated the cold call strategy, I made sure that the students were called upon
through my own universal and systematic design, which broke down to my discretion no matter
if the student's hands were in the air or not. The variation in which I perform the cold calls
provided an opportunity for observation and tracking the students who share frequently and
those who did not. If one wanted to prove more accurate data for this strategy a checklist could
be incorporated relatively easy. However, because I understood who was and was not sharing
in class discussion, I used simple observation for my study.
Benefits
This strategy forces the students to share their knowledge and feel the rewards of
getting it right. It also is a way for the teacher to be persistent with expecting feedback. It puts
students on the spot and gets them evolved. It is a tool that helps with engagement and can
even create a successful learning outcome.

Drawbacks
The cold call may still create an environment with anxiety because students still cannot
predict with certainty when it will be their turn to share their ideas or knowledge with their
peers. Since I have switched to this strategy, I have been less lenient with the opt-out option.
The more familiar the students become with the cold call method, the less often I allow it to be
part of their learning. So in place of the opt-out, I incorporated a few seconds of wait time and
continued to encourage the student that no matter what they say it will be a learning
experience for them all.
The purpose of the wait time is to alleviate some of the anxiety reluctant student feel.
To do this, I ask the question, “Who thinks they can tell me…?” then I pause looking for clues in
body language that tell me the students have thought it through. Then I choose the individual
who I want to hear from, sometimes it is those with their hands raised, and sometimes I pick
students who do not have their hands raised. If I do pick those without their hand raised, I
always allow an additional wait time until they offer an answer. If the student still seems
uncomfortable with sharing, I encourage them to say what they are thinking. I even add in my
motto of, “Say it loud and say it proud.” then end it with a smile. I also believe a smile is just
and encouraging as the words them self.

Benefits of the Study

The benefits of doing a study relating to motivating reluctant students were to narrow
down a strategy that would aid in increasing the amount of time reluctant students would
share. It also helped pinpoint why some students were unwilling to share during class
discussion. I also hoped this study would also help problem solve whether or not this behavior
was related to a lack of self-confidence or lack of feeling the intrinsic reward of success.

Source Materials and Outcomes

While working through this issue, I found evidence in three different sources that would
back my findings.
 The first source came from Best Year Ever by Bill Cecil which ties to strategy one and the
idea of building upon intrinsic rewards. Getting to know your students led me to learn to more
about my student on an academic level. It also encouraged me to find a way to help build the
needed intrinsic reward all students deserve to feel.
The second source is from Teach Like A Champion by Doug Lemov, allowed me to work
between three main strategies that I used to help the reluctant students become more
comfortable sharing in their classroom.
In the first strategy, I incorporated the approach of using name sticks to call on
students. The purpose of doing so allows all students an equal chance to share their knowledge
and ideas, and help keep them engaged in their learning.
The second is named Cold Call. This strategy still keeps the students engaged because
they do not know when or if they will be called upon.
Then lastly, with both the name sticks and cold call, I made sure the students had a
short wait time between when they were given the question, being called upon, and expected
to share their knowledge with the class.

The third source is from the text Mindset: The New Phycology of Success by Carol S,
Dweck. In this text, the author speaks of anxiety and ways in which to help students deal with
the onset of “a fixed mindset” and strategies to overcome their lack of confidence or the
reluctance for speaking in front of others. Just one of the ideas she shares in this text is to be
persistent and help the student face the fear head-on by pushing them out of their comfort zone
to learn new and harder things, so their brains grow new connections. Therefore, conditioning their
minds to keep trying hard, and being proud of what they know by offering their knowledge
more freely. It was this idea that led me to the strategies of name sticks and then to Cold Calls.
I too believe that the more students are encouraged to stretch their learning and their abilities
when being called upon, the more likely they are to overcome their fear and reluctance of
speaking in front of their peers and the more likely they find that intrinsic reward leading them
to success in the classroom.

Conclusion

As this study comes to a close due to the end of my student teaching, I have found that
many of the reluctant and resistance students did increase their willingness to share in class
discussions.

In fact, I witnessed more and more of the reluctant students using less wait time before
answering or offering their ideas when called upon and quicker response to questions being
asked. Many of them even demonstrated their intrinsic reward by smiling when I called upon
them to share with their peers and more so when they nailed the answer or provided accurate
information while they were sharing. I even observed more productive conversations when
students were working in small groups.

I genuinely believe this study has led to the building of student’s confidence and helped
them find their intrinsic reward that will last a lifetime. I also feel this study was a success not
only to my students but to myself.