I liked Curzan and Damour’s suggestions regarding quiet students in Chapter 4. I’ve been considering how to handle quiet students in my classroom, since I’m emphasizing class participation in my syllabus. As a student who was once (and still is, to a certain extent) painfully awkward and shy, I understand the difficulties facing the less-than-outgoing kid. I really like the idea of offering such students the opportunity to contribute outside of class, during office hours. Small groups and freewrites prior to discussion also seem like effective ways of drawing the quiet student out of his/her shell.
I’m still not entirely sure how handle the “Bomb Dropper”, however, which we discussed last week in class. While I can see the validity in Curzan and Damour’s proposal to turn the uncomfortable situation into a teaching opportunity, I’m not sure I’ll have the lucidity to actually implement such a strategy. I’ve witnessed a similar occurrence in the classroom, and reacted with such vehement disgust that I’m wary of my emotional reaction as an instructor. I would be tempted to simply kick the student out, though I know Damour’s idea is much more appropriate and constructive.
Also, I laughed to realize that Bri was a great example during Rebecca’s lesson last week of “The Discussion Hog”. While the “direct and gentle” (Damour 60) would most likely be the best method in English 1000, it was nice to openly ridicule the obnoxious student for once. Well, at least it was fun to laugh at Bri.
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3 comments:
I agree with Liz's comments about the quiet student. I, too, have often been the quiet student who didn't know how to become part of a class discussion. That did not mean, however, that I had not done my homework, or that I didn't care about the class. I think it's important not to judge students who seem like they're not contributing; sure, sometimes they haven't done the reading, and sometimes they don't care, but many of them do and simply are more introverted and not as good at group discussions. I agree with Liz that other opportunities should be made available to allow such students to prove that they are actively thinking about the material, even if their participation in class discussion doesn't prove it.
Thanks, Liz. :-p
I can also sympathise with the plight of the quiet student and think the idea of including visits to office hrs, etc in the participation grade is a good idea. I also liked the suggestion (in Bean, I think) of having students write their comments first so that they don't feel like they're thinking on their feet so much.
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