High School Kids - Teachers, How Do You Get Kids To Participate?

[OceanSpray]

I know this has zero to do with PTSD so forgive me, I stuck it in Social and I hope that’s right.


For those that are current/former high school teachers or similar-

How do you get the kids to participate in class? I get it, I absolutely get social anxiety. But Jesus they won’t even work for candy or the fancy water bottle/laptop stickers. In a day I might get two kids to answer questions when going over things. I have more success with them filling out their work, but discussion is so valuable to learning and they won’t discuss .

I’ve tried candy. I’ve tried the awesome stickers. I’m not an actual teacher so I can’t manipulate any grades or anything like that. I bring in current events and do what I can to make it fun. But they don’t care. Which I also understand but am so frustrated by it.



Brought to you by a history and geography loving substitute teacher who is supposed to do review over the past years worth of history class stuff with them so they are ready for end of year testing.

 

[OceanSpray]

It’s a super cool activity too where you be the president and determine how to solve different problems that arose during the depression, how to fund your decision, and what kind of criticism would arise.

 

[Friday]

How much autonomy do you have & what’s the timeframe involved?

 

[OceanSpray]

45 minute classes and I have quite a bit of freedom to the computers/whiteboard/etc. only real thing I can’t do is incentivize grades or assignments (like letting them get a freebie).

 

[Charbella]

I do structured partner talk. They have someone near them who they all answer to. Partner one says the answer and why they think it partner two says they agree or disagree because. If their answer is directly in the text then they each point to it. The trick is that they stand when they’re ready to answer. Then I have frog shaped sticks and the “frogs of fate” have numbers each kid is assigned one (in your case assign the desks) and a few kids are pulled to share what they talked about. Most kids will talk and listen because if they don’t know at least when they’re called they can say the partners answer.

When I do math I have them write their answers on boards (work too) and when they’re done they turn it toward them, when most of the class is done same thing applies the frogs of fate decide who shares. If treats motivate those who share or have a thoughtful question get a treat regardless of the accuracy of their answer.

 

[OceanSpray]

Brilliant!

 

[Friday]

Brought to you by a history and geography loving substitute teacher who is supposed to do review over the past years worth of history class stuff with them so they are ready for end of year testing.

I handled high school test prep / review the same way I TA’d in uni… except verbally giving HS kids permission to do the things college kids already know they can do.

- Hand out review packets to each student entering.

- Before we start, here are the ground rules: For the next period, this is an open classroom. Go to the bathroom, get drinks/snacks, come and go as you please just be smart about it. If you have somewhere else to be, or something else you need to work on? Either skedaddle & take care of what you need to, or head to the back of the classroom (or however I was splitting the space up), and work on your own back there. Including if you work better solo on THIS stuff. I don’t care what you’re working on, so long as you’re working. 7 minutes to organize yourselves, move desks around, and decide if you’re here, there, or elsewhere, and then this side of the classroom and I will start ________ .

^^^ Unless the weather was good. If the weather was good boy test prep & “do your own thing, in semi-supervision” would be outside. Always.

***

Middle school aged I handed out the same packets, & split the period in half-ish (1/3 & 2/3s), with the first half being everyone reviewing / marching to my drum, and the second half those who wanted to peel off with one of the teaching assistants to the library to work on other things could, whilst those who wanted to stay, stayed. That way everyone got at least a taste of structured study, and the freedom to choose what they worked on. Whether with me or with the assistant/study hall volunteers/librarian.

***

I worked for a private GT school (k12) full of HIGHLY motivated students, and I still “lost” about half my class, once they realised I was serious (a few just testing boundaries, most were down to the wire in half their other classes and neeeeeeded any spare minute they could find for a project due tomorrow, a test in an hour, a paper that was supposed to be in yesterday, end of semester or end of year madness). I also “gained” between 1/3-2/3s of that class back, from/during other periods, & over lunch & study period. Same deal. Review up front, work on your own in back. So my class of 20 often had 40+ kids in it, during test prep or semester review, but only 10 of them were from THAT period!!!

Roughly half the faculty operated on that same modified-university-expectations so there was a LOT of traffic as kids shifted about to where they needed the most help/time/or space to do their own thing at he end of the semester. The public school next door? Only 2 or 3 teachers, mostly AP & with enough clout to buck authority, used the same sort of paradigm. Meanwhile the Montessori (public) school down the street, 100% of the kids chose where to be & working on what & with whom.

So a lot depends on where you’re working & how much autonomy you have. PERSONALLY I find the more freedom I give kids to choose to be elsewhere? The more active participation I get from the ones who choose to be “here”. Even if elsewhere is just on the opposite side of the room, or sprawled out on the floor with one earphone in and a rainbow of notecards and the occasional snarky comment from the depths of whatever they’re actually doing, proving they surfaced for even half a second.

 

[OceanSpray]

Thank you!!!!