The way speak decides our class

How we communicate with each other and particularly in a group of people decides our class. Take your time. Nervous people talk fast. Be concise. Say what you need to and don’t continue on unless provoked or requested to. Be comfortable with silence. Pause for effect from time to time or when a specific point is being made. Yes, most people are uncomfortable with silence but this will make hem crave your next word like a dog craves a treat. If you feel nervous, take a deep breath and relax. This will help lower your vocal register and you will sound more relaxed and natural. This may help if you struggle with this.

Make eye contact. Without this, you’re not really connecting with the person you’re talking to. What color eyes does your coworker Suzie have? Don’t know? You’re not making enough eye contact. If you’re not asking a question, bring your tone down at the end of the sentence. So many people bring their tone up which makes you sound uncertain about what you are saying. It also makes you sound a little bit like a chicken. Smile and have a sense of humor. N

Be present. If something is on your mind which is distracting you(like this) write it down really quick so your brain can relax. Really listen and make eye contact when someone is speaking to you. Listening well is an absolutely crucial part of communicating confidently and effectively. You should know the color of everyone you know’s eyes. Be honest and have integrity. Don’t pretend you’re something you’re not or talk about stuff you know nothing about. Whatever level of knowledge you are at, it’s ok, and whoever you are, that’s ok too. Doing any of these things will kick on your nervous system and completely negate the rest of these tips because you’ll be nervous you’ll be caught in a lie. This may help.

Don’t be afraid to disagree. It’s how we learn more about each other, and learn from each other. Just do it tactfully. Remove weak language such as: Um…Uhhh…Like…Just…Could you please…Maybe…Lastly, express gratitude for the opportunity to share your thoughts for a little while, and for the other person sharing theirs. (Such as maybe upvoting or sharing, wink wink). It is also very important to speak clearly and make sure you are enunciating every sound of every word you say. Practice this(and the other tips here) by reading aloud(anything, a book, article, instruction manual) every day.

By engaging responses from them by asking them, at random, questions about what you are teaching. Spontaneously pick a student and ask them a question, this will keep your students on their toes because they won’t know who you will pick and what the question will be. Mix it up by asking a question first and seeing who will respond. Make it clear you will be expecting the students to speak more. Have classroom debates with each side of the classroom arguing opposing techniques, beliefs, subjects with three student judges to see which side has the best argument.

Place your students into groups where they have to teach the class something you assigned them and every student in the group must present part of the presentation. Reward students who speak more with little prizes and/or praise. Greet your students individually and get to know them as much as you can, if you get to know them better they may feel more comfortable speaking more.

Don’t get mad or put down a student who answers wrong or does wrong, encourage them to study the subject better and maybe assign them a small assignment related to the question, if a student is confidant they won’t be embarrassed for speaking up they will be more likely to participate more in the future. Make your lessons more interesting, the more you engage with your students the more they will engage with you.

There are so many strategies proven to increase student talk and thus student voice in a classroom. Here's one I used … tell them you're going to ask a question, but they have to think of how they'll answer the question in a complete sentence. Have differentiated sentence frames up for them to use. This will provide them with more complex or simpler ways to answer (e.g., The main character is ___ because ___ vs As a result of the main character's ____, (s)he _____.) Remind them you're going to give them about 30 seconds to a minute of think time to think about their answers silently and to write it down.

Then they will share it with their elbow partner (or other partner in their vicinity). Pose the question, give them the wait time, and then direct them to share with their partners, giving a good 2 minutes for sharing. Circulate around the class and listen to answers. If you hear a good one from a particularly shy student, whisper that it's a great answer and ask if (s)he could volunteer to share with the class later. I never had a student refuse, no matter how shy. Why? They had a chance to think about their answer and write it down. They then had a chance to rehearse with a partner.

They also received praise for that answer and had extra time to rehearse individually, knowing they would be called to share with the class. Once partner discussion is up, call the class together. Ask for volunteers to share their answers. Challenge them to not use their writing, but remind them it's ok to use it if they need it. Also challenge them to share what their partners shared with them (you can instruct this beforehand, but it is a variation of the technique). Watch the hands fly up when you ask for volunteers. Choose hands raised of kids for whom participation has been challenging.

After each answer, either rephrase or provide specific feedback (not “Great job!” but maybe “I liked your reasoning on his …”). Prior to the discussion, have a little class motivation gauge up in which you reward the class as a whole if participation is at certain levels. They could be working on a “whole class pass” for something like a few minutes extra recess or a class celebration. The more meaningful to them, the better. Then honor the class with points or progress on their gauge that you feel they earned.

Student participation is as much about structures and systems of supports and motivation as it is about the content. Have them in place throughout the school year so they feel that they are working with each other and with you towards their learning and the growth of their class as a whole and that there will be times for them to celebrate when they've reached certain milestones in their learning journey. These are just a few of the ways I used to increase student talk and student voice. I hope these help! Cheers!