I am having a tough time getting some of my student to participate when it is their turn to teach a partner. I'm using a reward system very similar to the scoreboard. I have a jar of little people and one of them is moved out and into our extra recess jar when the class responds with participation. I still have students who are not participating by taking when it is "teach your partner" time. And when it comes to using the gestures many of them just look at me like I am crazy. Today I modeled with one student the desired response and I will continue to do that but I've been working with them to the "tell your partner" concept for weeks and some of them still are not participating. The use of hands also throws them.
I just wanted to see if anyone else has had this problem.

I love the class rules and we use them everywhere.

Gail

What grade do you teach? I've used WBT from K to 5th grade and got a lot of what you're talking about in the upper grades. Stick to your guns and model what you are looking for. In the past, I've taught in a way as boring as possible to show them their enthusiasm through myself. i did that for an entire day and by the end of it they were begging me to go back to the "fun, but weird" way.

I have a class of 19 1st and 2nd grade ESL students. 15 boys and 4 girls so I thought that teaching with movement and a little noise would be a good idea and a good way to get them envolved and actually participating. They are doing a great job with the coral response when I say "class" and they say "yes". I'll keep working on it. The method just seems too promising to suspend it now. It's a little hard to put into lesson plans for a sub but I can try a brief description.

A suggestion is to use "mirrors" while you are teaching. If the students "mirror" you while you are using gestures; then when they go to teach their neighbor, they can use those same gestures. It may be that they do not know what gestures to use while they teach. Once they get really good using your gestures during their teaching time, they may get more comfortable making up their own.

how long have you been working on the teach ok? It took my kindergarten class quite a awhile to really GET it, and they are just now start to really do a good job. I wouldn't worry quite yet, just give them a lot of opportunities to practice. My class really responds well to the score board! One saddy, and suddenly they are "Teach", "Ok" and "Switch" All Stars!

how long have you been working on the teach ok? It took my kindergarten class quite a awhile to really GET it, and they are just now starting to really do a good job. I wouldn't worry quite yet, just give them a lot of opportunities to practice. My class really responds well to the score board! One saddy, and suddenly they are "Teach", "Ok" and "Switch" All Stars!

I teach Kindergarten and find myself teaching as if I am conducting a "Think Aloud." I model and teach all day long. When I am teaching a concept I say turn to your partner and tell your partner. When the concept is knowledge based such as, Spiders have 8 eyes, 8 legs, 2 body parts and 2 fangs and a pair of spinerettes, I teach them gestures to go with these concepts. I then have them mirror me once or twice and then have them turn to their neighbor and teach. I tell them that I will be looking for groups that are teaching with enthusiasm and then give them the signal. I walk around and give feeback to groups that are doing great and prompt others to use enthusiasm or the speak to their partner, and move on. When I say class,they say yes and I ask for hands and eyes, usually right away and then offer whole group feedback. I tend connect my feedback to the scoreboard... telling students that I am looking for whole class participation. If I feel we need to practice briefly one more time, we may do so, or if not, move on. I may point out a particular group that was doing well and ask them to model what they did, or I will describe what they did to the class. It is all about practicing the behaviors that you want to see. It is definitely worth the work, the payoff is HUGE! Keep on trucking,,,

I see you have a reward system in place which is great. What is the consequence they earn for not participating? It is important for students to realize that their behaviors have an end result, positive or negative, and they will be held accountable ALL the time. Really stress to them that they EARN all the rewards and consequences and that you merely give them. That way, if they are unhappy, they have to look at themselves and see what to change there. Also, how long does it generally take to earn the extra recess?

I have found that when implementing a new system I want my students to take on, it's important to make the reward for doing it something that is earned quickly and then gradually make the time line for the reward stretch out longer and longer. Maybe even have a separate reward whenever they master a NEW strategy.

Please let us know what works for you because others might have these same problems and they can learn from this.

~Dave~

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I don't plan to quit just yet because I know this will work. My class is starting to make small steps towards whole class participation. When I get the desired result of full participation and I put a little plastic "person " into the recess jar they know they are going in the right direction. When I don't have good participation I tell them just that and I take someone out of the recess jar. I know how to rig the system and give them just enough extra recess time to keep it as a motivator. I can see that the class is starting to police or encourage their classmates towards participation so I know that most of them are getting the idea. I also vary the level of my check for individual understanding questions so that I can see how completely they are comprehending the material on an individual level. I can see that consistancy and persistance are key in making this work.

SO true! Just stay consistent! And if you can....realize that each time your students are not participating in the way you want them to, that is an opportunity to have a little practice, which works very well along with the scoreboard when you ping pong them back and forth on the smiley/frownie side until you get the desired effect. This gives your students a little energy jolt--in a positive, teacher desired way (NOT the energy jolt that drives us nuts!) AND it helps your students learn what it is that you expect AND it gives you the student engagement that you want. It's a win-win situation! Keep on trying--sounds like you are doing great!!!