Home | How It Works | Stats Login | Register         Case: What techniques do you use to keep students actively involved during a lesson? If you are asked this question in a job interview for a teaching position: What are some things you should avoid when responding to this question? What might be some important points to stress that would get the interviewer's attention? How would you respond to this question? Solution: (Rates are posted for this solution!) I would avoid using methods that may be perceived negatively such as redirecting students who are off-task and focus more on proactive strategies to keep students engaged. Two techniques that I use in conjunction with each other are cold calling and no opt-out. Although they seem simple, they are both explained in detail in Doug Lemov's book, Teach Like a Champion. Cold calling keeps students engaged because they don't necessarily have to have their hands raised to be called on and I don't call on a student until after I have asked the question so that all students feel accountable for possibly having to answer. Initially, this can be intimidating to students but when paired with a positive classroom environment, students will feel comfortable offering their input or providing an answer, even if they are unsure. It is also easy to scaffold oral questions based on the ability level of the student I am trying to engage. When a student is stumped, I use the no opt-out method, meaning that even if the student doesn't know the answer, they need to pay attention to what someone else says because I will be coming back to them for a summary or an elaboration based on their classmates answers to the same question.