Communicating:
How Introverts and Extroverts Differ
Context and Questions
Effective participation has always been an interesting question to think about for me. I was always someone who expected my students to have no problem sharing in class. For some students, getting in front of class to present is incredibly stressful. Interestingly enough, the #1 fear of Americans is public speaking. This idea led me to think about how to get introverts to effectively participate as well as how I could structure my classroom to get students to communicate in class.
Quiet: The Power of Introverts
The book makes the claim that introverts live an incredibly extroverted world. It asserts that the world should value introverts for what they really are, rather than forcing them to become extroverted. It does go on to say that there are situations where it is more beneficial to act in a more extroverted way even though it may not be a part of that person's personality. In other words, sometimes people will put on a show in order to become more marketable.
Strategies
Another important reason was that I wanted my classroom to be a safe place to make mistakes. I will make mistakes as a teacher and so will my students. Mistakes are not something that should be frowned on. Rather, they are an important learning experience.
Dustin Flake
Community Building
Creating a Safe Environment. We have done different activities in my class with the goal of getting students to become comfortable with one another. These include, the human knot, an activity where the students need to organize themselves in lines without verbal communication. These activities helped students become comfortable with each other and more willing to take chances in the classroom.
Introvert Quiz
I gave my class of twenty-six a fifteen question quiz that determined how introverted they are. This quiz came from the novel Quiet. The more questions they answered yes to the more introverted they were. Only two students were classified as Introverted.
One on One
Speaking to my students one on one is one of my most effective strategies when it comes to behavior modification. While most of this time I use this strategy for disruptive behavior, I also spoke with my introverts. I let them know that they were doing well in my class, but in order to continue to do well they would need to improve their participation because once they graduate, they will need to appear more outgoing.
Assessment
1) Socratic Seminars: The class sits in a circle and answers questions about the novel we are studying. They are required to speak twice in order to receive credit for the day. At the beginning of the year, my introverts feared this activity with a passion. However, as the year progressed I had the students write their questions on a piece of paper the day before. This gave students extra support to think of things they could say during the discussion since they had the day to prepare
2) Chalk Talk: Yes, verbal communication is important but getting in front of class can be just as frightening for students. I had all the students get up and write a quote on the board to address something we were studying in class. They would write on the board and return to their seat. I asked the students to explain why they wrote something specific on the board. This gave them extra time to think of answers and not be put on the spot.
Findings
Things this shows me:
1) Introverts care what people think:
After speaking one on one with both introverts, they showed improvement in class participation
2) Communication is still incredibly important, however it is rarely graded in schools. However, with the new emphasis on speaking and listening in the Common Core, all subject areas should start incorporating more communication and group activity