4.1 Support student participation

Identify strategies to support inclusive student participation and engagement in classroom activities.

Class participation is for everyone, however most cohorts feature a range of personalities and some of these personalities are more active at participating than others. One of the base strategies is to build relationships with all students and make sure that I am checking in and taking a moment to talk to all students in a day.

When teaching students on the floor there are inevitably students that put their hand up more regularly than other, one strategy I use to give a little longer so more students can prepare an answer.

During my time at Barwon Heads primary school it became apparent that the class had developed resistance towards working with class members of the opposite gender and were having difficulty even speaking to each other. 

I have always endeavoured to make classrooms an inclusive environment for all and was disappointed by these attitudes. I developed a whole calss affiramation and encouraged disscusiions around respecting each other and each individuals unique attributes. 

Further to this I encouraged class participation through the use of 'Lucky Ducks' with the students names on small rubber ducks pulled out at random. 

Previously I have encouraged students to pair and share before answering a question. In reflection time students are encouraged to share though positive reinforcement and having encouraged to have pride in their work I often remind students that we all have different strengths.