I loved this article. It answered many questions I had. There have been times when I have had students that misbehaved, and talking to them just wasn't cutting it. I needed more suggestions and I found a few here (i.e. contracts).
The only thing I somewhat disagree with is calling on students. Since I was slow in math, I hated it when my teacher would call on me. I'd blank out and turn red because everybody was waiting for an answer, and this is why I try not to call on students. I used to talk to my teachers afterschool and ask them not to pick on me. This is why try to only ask questions to the class and whoever wants to answer will answer (and there has been times when the "shy" students participate).
I've heard of a strategy where you can call on a student and they can pass if they feel uncomfortable, but as a student I would still feel embarrassed because it'll be obvious I don't know the answer to the question.
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Hmmm.... what is our focus in how we use participation in class? What if the focus was talking about understanding- what we understand and what we don't, and not the "right" answer per se. There is a great book about creating conversations in math classes that I have-- I will try to xerox part of it for you, because it talks about how until we hear what students are thinking (whether that is "right" or "wrong") then how do we help them figure out where they got stuck? Obviously this requires a low-stress environment, as you pointed out in an earlier post...
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