Teachers weigh in | Imamother

amother

OP ↓

Tue, Sep 24 2024, 12:55 pm

Why do teachers call on kids at random? Dc is an excellent student and pays attention, but comes home so so upset that multiple teachers call on kids at random to read a rashi, answer a question etc… I understand it’s to keep kids on their toes and paying attention. But is there no other way?

amother

↑ OP ↓

Tue, Sep 24 2024, 1:05 pm

Bc dc doesn’t like being out on the spot. When you raise your hand your typically confident you know the answer! The teacher just read the rashi over quickly and then wanted dc to give an answer dc hardly learned. Dc was embarrassed that dc couldn’t come up with the answer. And dc is a smart kid.

Multiple teachers do this.

I hated it as a child as well

amother

Lawngreen

Tue, Sep 24 2024, 1:24 pm

I think it’s reasonable to do that to keep everyone involved in the lesson. However if dc feels put on the spot, it’s not appropriate for them. It’s also counterproductive if they’re too anxious about being called on to be able to concentrate on the lesson.

Would you reach out to the teacher? If they’re somewhat reasonable, I’m sure they’d be fine not to call on dc. They just need to know about the issue.

Molly Weasley ↓

Tue, Sep 24 2024, 3:44 pm

It's the only real way for teacher to know if a) the child is listening in class and b) if he absorbed the lesson

Teachers also use it as a way to keep their students on their toes, but that's not the main motivation.

↑ Molly Weasley

Tue, Sep 24 2024, 3:45 pm

amother Lawngreen wrote:

My second this. Op, how are his marks in general?

imaima ↓

Tue, Sep 24 2024, 3:54 pm

amother OP wrote:

Everyone should be ready to be called on.
What other way do you suggest?

↑ imaima ↓

Tue, Sep 24 2024, 3:55 pm

amother OP wrote:

It’s an exercise not a test. When they are practicing, they are expected to make mistakes that the teacher will then correct.
They are not meant to get everything right immediately

↑ imaima ↓

Tue, Sep 24 2024, 4:15 pm

amother Calendula wrote:

Some kids are embarrassed to publicly demonstrate that they don't know. Made worse when the teacher calls on someone else who DOES know.

Well there are no guarantees. How do you think it works out? Maybe it’s a coincidence that the next child knew the answer.
To tell you a little secret, if a child is generally not active in class, they will be called on because the teacher needs to check on each of them every now and then. So it is smart to raise your hand to answer the easier questions to lessen the chance to be called on for harder questions.

oohlala ↓

Tue, Sep 24 2024, 4:18 pm

It’s an engagement strategy. Teachers can’t only call on those who are raising their hands because then the one that don’t will not make progress and learn. That being said, there are other ways to engage students in addition to calling in them, such as choral responses, gestures (thumbs up/thumbs down, etc), writing a response on a whiteboard and holding it up, turn and talk to a partner, etc. sounds like the teacher could expand her repertoire.

mushkamothers

Tue, Sep 24 2024, 6:02 pm

oohlala wrote:

This. A teacher who doesn't have other tools will default to this which isn't the best one for the reasons op listed.

Something I liked doing was giving a heads up. Sara, you're going to answer the question after this exercise. I also accommodated students who wanted to know in advance so I told them in advance I'll call on them for #15. But I had to learn these tricks the hard way. An inexperienced teacher doesn't know better.

amother

Clematis

Tue, Sep 24 2024, 6:37 pm

I’d work on his feeling the need for perfection. There is no reason to be embarrassed he didn’t know something he barely learned. It’s ok not to know. It shouldn’t bother him this deeply.

notshanarishona

Tue, Sep 24 2024, 7:18 pm

Very typical, I don’t want to only call on the 5-10 kids who are constantly raising hands, I want to make sure everyone is participating and also if a kid doesn’t know when they will be called on they are more likely to pay attention

amother

↑ OP

Tue, Sep 24 2024, 8:34 pm

I know it’s standard and typical, and yet I still think it’s a terrible idea.

Food for though those of you who are teachers. Think about how your making the kids feel. Be creative if you want them engaged.
Don’t say it’s good for the kids . There’s a time and place for everything. Want to make sure the kids who aren’t raising their hands know the material? Figure out a different way then potentially embarrassing them and making them feel overall anxious. No, the kid is a normal kid. Doesn’t need therapy or to work on anything. It’s plain old normal.

teachkids

Tue, Sep 24 2024, 8:46 pm

I call on kids for questions that they should be able to answer. I’m not going to ask the kid who can’t read to read the next pasuk, but I may ask her to give us an example of x. It keeps everyone engaged whether they like it or not.

We also have to normalize mistakes and learning

↑ oohlala

Tue, Sep 24 2024, 9:11 pm

amother OP wrote:

Just because it’s hard for your child doesn’t mean it’s a terrible idea. It’s good teaching practice. Of course, as I said above, the teacher could use additional engagement strategies. My advice would be to talk to the teacher and tell him/her how this affects your child. Perhaps you can work something out where s/he tells your child which questions to expect that he will be called on for a few days. Maybe this will help him get used to it. Also suggest that the students be paired up and rehearse their answers with a partner before the teacher calls on a few kids randomly. All this will reduce anxiety around being called on.

↑ imaima

Wed, Sep 25 2024, 4:18 am

amother OP wrote:

Sorry the classroom is not your kid‘s stage where he is only expected to shine. It’s a place for trial and error which are a part of the learning process. The teacher can verbalize these conditions to try and relieve anxiety. It’s also on the parents to work with their kids and explain what classroom is about and help their kids adjust their expectations from themselves.

It’s the teachers decision in the moment to choose a strategy for each situation and you are supposed to trust that they know what they are doing. There are multiple factors involved always that only the teacher an assess in the moment