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After reading about the cold call strategy please share how you have used this strategy in your classroom. I'm sure all of you recognize this as something you've done with your students but may not have called it this. Did you use popsicle sticks or some other method? How did your students respond? Moment of truth: Have you ever used it as a "Gotcha!"? How did you feel after reading the guidelines?
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This blog was created as a communication tool for the Bradwell School of Excellence teachers and staff as we begin this journey to reclaim Bradwell! Join us as we share the joys, triumphs and challenges of building excellence together in an inner city school in Chicago. At Bradwell we NEVER blame the lettuce!
Never Blame the Lettuce!
We never blame the lettuce. If a lettuce fails to grow we look for the reasons it is not growing. We check to see if it needs more water, more sun, or more fertilizer. But we NEVER blame the lettuce!
Principal Kimberly Henderson
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- Kimberly Henderson
- Chicago, Illinois, United States
- My name is Kimberly Henderson and I am the principal for Bradwell School of Excellence, a turnaround school for 2010-2011 in Chicago. I am excited to begin this journey of giving our students the world class education they deserve with a staff that has been handpicked to lead this challenge! Anyone can lead a school, I seek to transform the lives of our students who in turn will transform the lives of our staff forever!
I use cold-calling every single day. I laughed a little to myself as I was reading Principal Henderson's comment on if you have ever used it as a "gotcha" as without a doubt I am sure every teacher has. Actually, during undergrad this strategy was explained to us as a way to "catch" students. So, when we learned about it earlier this year through AUSL I found it very interesting and WAY more effective (obviously) when used as a way to hold your students accountable. I began this strategy a couple years ago by using Popsicle sticks with the student’s names. It worked great as is also a wonderful way for the teacher to really call whatever name she/he wants while the students assume you are reading the name on the stick. My kids know that when I say cold call they need to be following along or be participating so they can answer the question that will most defiantly be asked. It gets the "favoritism” factor out of students minds and lets them focus on the task at hand. It is also fun and engaging to let the kids pull a stick if you are not specifically looking for that one student.
ReplyDeleteI also use cold-calling without Popsicle sticks more often as the year goes on. My students now know just to expect me to call a name......Love it and super effective for accountability!
From reading the strategy description, I recognize that I use the cold-calling strategy often. I did not know that it had a specific name or proper method of implementation. There are times when I use it as a gotcha, and there are other times when I use it to decide whether to move on or not. I too have used Popsicle sticks to aid in randomly selecting students. I think the use of Popsicle sticks at any grade level helps motivate the students to pay attention. I think in the minds of most children, nothing is more embarrassing than being caught off guard and saying something totally absurd.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with Ashley...it is extremely effective in holding the learners accountable.
I never thought about picking sticks as being called "cold-calling" but I do this all the time, almost for everything I do in my class. I have a frog theme in my classroom so my sticks are frog sticks that have numbers on them and every student has a number and they know that if I pick their frog stick they better be prepared with an answer. They actually love the frog sticks and if I ever change it up and don't use the frog sticks they will ask me to just pick the frogs! Using this method, I have found that it helps keep ALL students on task and focused at any given time because usually students do not want to be called on unprepared so this method makes them constantly have to be on their feet and ready to give an answer. I set the tone in my room, as I am sure everyone does, to let my students know that classroom participation is very important and that there is never a dumb question or a dumb answer as long as they have tried. Even if my I pick a student's frog stick and they didn't quite give the answer I was looking for I always give them positive encouragement so they will continue to want to participate.
ReplyDeleteCold-calling is very effective and keeps students on their toes and constantly keeps the wheels turning in their heads and their minds thinking.
I love Cold Call! And that is how I had to sell it to my students to get them to "love" it also. I started the year using CC with popsicle sticks to really stress to students that everyone deserved an equal chance to be called on. Ultimately, the popsicle stick method helped me to decipher the level of difficulty most appropriate for questioning specific students. There were times when I depended on the popsicle sticks to call on students for higher order questions that they really were not able to answer yet. I now am able to really shoot those questions to Lorenzo that I know he can answer to build up his esteem for the day and I have my pocket of 5 students to call on to get the ball rolling for student discussion. The students of course don't know this, but that is why it works!
ReplyDeleteI am not going to lie that I have used Cold Call as a "gotcha". It is really hard not too! I think it CAN work though if you incorporate some of the No Opt Out strategy into it... Call on the student and then give them another chance to answer by telling them that you will come back to them so that this "gotcha" doesn't turn into embarrassment and they end on a positive. I am not saying it's okay.. I am just sayin..
I didn't know it had a name for it, but as a counselor I use Cold Calling during my group sessions because its a way to get everyone to participate. I believe it keeps students alert and consciously thinking of a response. I agree with Faith it totally helps builds students' self esteem because they are able to go home at the end of the day and tell their parents that they participated in the day's lesson....Plus, it keeps more extraverted students from taking over the group! Go Cold Calling!
ReplyDeleteGreat way to show how effective it can be even outside the classroom. I'm going to use it tonight with my kids. Think I'll cold call who gets to clean up or something. :-)
ReplyDeleteI never really learned about "cold calling" in my undergrad. I was introduced to the strategy through my training in AUSL. At first I thought there was no way I would use this strategy as a music teacher. I then found myself using it in many ways. I use "cold calling" the most in review questions. If it's a topic that everyone has learned then I feel very comfortable "cold calling" students. I want it to be a positive thing in my classroom. Of course, I have used it as a "Gotcha" a few times. Those few times I fell on my face with it. It is definitely a strategy meant to be used in a positive way. I am trying to think of ways to do name drawing but it is difficult when you see every child in the building. Next year I think students will be assigned a number. I've seen that work in "cold calling".
ReplyDeleteAs a Kindergarten teacher, I've used this strategy as a way to keep my kids from feeling sad about not being called on all the time! It seems as though all students wanted a turn all the time, and to avoid disappointment which leads to negative attitudes, I would cold call. That way students understand everyone gets an equal turn, and no one feels neglected. I wasn't aware of the other benefits it could have until reading the 'cold call guide'. Looking back, however, during the activities I would cold call, everyone would be very engaged.
ReplyDeleteWhile co-teaching Second Step lessons, I frequently use Cold Calling as a method to insure that all students have a chance to participate. Of course there are the three students who sit up front and raise their hand for every answer, but I find when I walk around the room from group to group and call on students who never raise their hand, they become pleasantly surprised when they share an answer. Because I am trying to be as non-judgemental as possible with my responses, even when the answer is not what I was looking for, I tend to say "That's one way to look at it; Johnny, what do you think?"
ReplyDeleteI admit to using Gotcha once or twice, however, especially when I know a student is not paying attention. I like the Cold Call strategy because it encourages everyone to be on task without singling out a student who is not, which may decrease their motivation to participate.
Also, just as Efuru mentioned, I have used the Cold Call strategy in Anger Coping groups as well as Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy groups for students who have been exposed to trauma. I like to have the students in a circle format and we usually use a talking stick to pass around and make sure everyone is heard. This is a predictable method that students expect each time.