Action:

• There are three typical ways to have students track and report their participation:
  • Midway through class, ask students “who hasn’t yet contributed?”
  • Give students a card to keep on their desk that is face up before they have contributed and face down once they contribute. You can use the cards to identify who hasn’t had the opportunity to contribute.
  • Give students a quarter sheet of paper and ask them to write their name, whether or not they made a contribution, and perhaps an insight that they’ll take away from the class. This practice is called an exit ticket and has many variations.

Reason:

• This decreases the difficulty of keeping track of which students have participated in class and creates a climate of shared responsibility.
• This communicates to students that you care about everyone’s ideas and also expect everyone to participate.
• This can help students who participate frequently understand the goal of everyone having the opportunity to participate.