[paullyhi]

Please help. A student of mine is driving me craaaaazzzzyyyy with the constant handraising. Normally he doesn't even think of the answer before the hand shoots up. I think it's an automatic reflex at this point. I use a deck of cards with the students' names on them to help fairly call on students to respond. However, his hand is always in the air trying to demand my attention. My fourth grade teacher says I need to nip this in the bud before my students get to her next year her because the same issue is driving her crazy too.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!

[westwitch]

I have one of those in my class! His hand goes up before I even complete a sentence!

I say to him, "you know, the minute your hand goes up, all you care about is your answer-and you stop listening to anything I say...the minute your hand goes up, your brain shuts off". It stops him dead in his tracks!

[cghulsey]

Have you ever thought about doing Think /Respond. This is asking a question, giving the students time to think, then asking them to respond in unision. Asking a question to whole group and using think/respond gives the students who never raises their hand a chance to answer and the ones, like your student, to think about what the answer is. Sometimes you can't use this, but it does help in these types of situations. If they give all types of different answers, give them more time to think. then ask them to respond again. Using this gives every student a chance to answer, being actively participating. Hope this helps

[t_ster1]

After I ask a question, I draw a stick with a student's name on it. Only they can answer the question or they can "phone a friend" to help. It eliminates the handraising greatly!

[melissaalbro]

One strategy I've used is to give the student a specific number of sticks each day - usually only 3 maybe 5. The student is required to give me one stick every time they raise their hand to answer or ask a question. This includes whole group lessons, getting out of their seat, going to the restroom, everything. It requires them to stop and think about whether their question is important enough to ask at the time, or if it is something that they can answer themselves. Once the sticks are gone, they loose privileges every time they speak without me calling on them specifically. As with any strategy it works with some, but not others.

[abcxyz510]

Pose your question to the class, give them time to think of their answer, then have them turn and talk. Maybe that will give the student the attention that he or she needs to just get the answer out. It also helps the kids who I refer to as "bumps on a log". They always wait for the kids to answer for them. It makes them responsible for their own learning.

[J.Elaine]

I'm reading a book for a study at school called Explicit Direct Instruction. The authors say you should always call on a "non-volunteer" after posing the question and waiting for think time. I've used this technique and the term non-volunteer since the beginning of the year, and I STILL have hand raisers. But now everyone knows I'm not going to call on those people unless I draw their stick. Before using this strategy, I had 4-5 people who totally dominated every discussion every day -- and I'm not exaggerating. It got so that no one else even tried to answer which probably meant that no one else did much thinking either.

BTW, I have my students for 2 years, so I knew I needed to do something or else the other poor kids would never get a chance!!!!