PLN 18

Every student gets some form of stage fright at one point in their lives. Statistics show that more people are afraid of public speaking than they are of dying. It sounds ridiculous, but its a big problem for students and teachers. In her blog, Kristin L talked about how to deal with students who suffer from this fear. The post was titled Quiet Students and it made excellent points about how to deal with students who suffer from shyness. I suggest reading the post yourself and adding your own input, but here is what I said:

Kristin L,
I know how hard it is to be the student whose grade suffers because of shyness. I have often been the victim of it. A lot of times, and to a lot of teachers, it seems like a good idea to give a non-participate a zero for the day. Like you said, maybe it will get the message across, and the student will learn to get past the awkwardness of speaking out in a large group. However, you also said that it often seems like the student was trying to participate. Your probably right, It is hard for us shy students to speak out, especially in front of other students. There is always the fear that we will say something stupid that the class will hold over our head forever. Even if us quiet kids can get up the courage to speak up, we are often over-looked by the class. I myself have been in many situations where I had a really good point to add to the discussion, but the more verbal students spoke over me because they are so used to me just sitting there. I know this is the case for many students. We want to sit back and listen to the group. We want to absorb the knowledge and input of others. Sometimes, we get so wrapped up in what the others are saying we don’t want to interrupt. Other times, we just don’t want to distract from what the others are saying. You made a point that students who are non-factors could maybe get non-grades. I agree. Those of us who are too scared to speak shouldn’t be punished. Unless a student is completely and utterly out of it, there shouldn’t be any reason for them to receive a zero. They don’t contribute, but they don’t distract either. Perhaps the best way to handle students who have forgotten how to use their voices is to have them write a summary after the seminar, just to make sure they haven’t forgotten to use their brains as well.
-AvereeL