Your typical classroom environment provides an excellent illustration of the old adage that the squeaky wheel gets the grease. More specifically, we often find that louder, more outgoing students get more attention while more quiet students can get lost in the shuffle. Toni Weingarten writes an interesting article called When Quiet Kids Get Forgotten in Class about how outgoing children demand attention in the classroom and generally get it. However, quieter students can contribute a lot of insight and perspective to the classroom if educators take the time to engage them.

Weingarten notes that the American culture rewards more aggressive, outgoing personalities. However, despite the perception that a more introverted character indicates a slow mind or a weak personality, the article suggests that quieter children may come from cultures that promote a more pensive demeanor. In addition, sometimes being reserved is simply a matter of personality as opposed to aptitude or fortitude. In any case, what can you do as a teacher to make sure every student gets the most out of the classroom experience? Weingarten’s article makes two general suggestions:

1. Set up cooperative activities: Mix extroverted and introverted students and assign them to groups where they work together toward a common goal, whether it’s a presentation, an art project, or research. By making quieter students talk and exposing extroverted students to fresh perspectives they never would’ve heard in a traditional raise-your-hand-first format, children can learn from each other. Make sure you put your activity tables, conference tables, or science tables to good use so students can face each other and communicate more easily. If you don’t have large tables, arranging your desks and other available classroom furniture can help groups connect more quickly.
2. Ask more open-ended questions in class: If you ask a question with a one word answer, students with a quicker trigger can raise their hand right away and beat more reflective students to the punch. But this is a classroom, not a game show. More complex questions force everyone to think more carefully and they give quieter children the chance to make an audible impact in class. For example, instead of asking students to recite a line from a poem, you could ask them what the line means to them.

In any event, the article implies that every student has something unique to offer to the class if you give them the right opportunity. So take those extra few minutes as you put together your lesson plan and figure out how to get everyone involved in the learning process.

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