-Know when to call on the lower-acheiving kids. When you are checking for understanding, call on your 'average' and 'low' students first- you can pretty much assume your highest kids already know the answer.  Call on the lowest kids to answer your simplest questions so that they feel capable and successful, and talk them through the harder questions.  Try not to brush off wrong answers and go on to a higher child: gives hints, ask follow up questions, etc. at least some of the time so the child ends on a positive note and was accountable for his/her answer.  When you include high-level questions to challenge your highest acheivers, you can call on other kids to answer the questions, too: since you posed the question to the whole class, your highest kids are still engaged and thinking.

-Respond as positively as you can to each answer, even if it's way off.  Now, sometimes kids say something totally off because they weren’t paying attention or they just don’t get it, and that can be frustrating as a teacher.  If the child is totally off-base, I may just say, “Keep thinking- I’m coming back to you”.  This encourges the child to stay on task because s/he knows I will ask another question soon, but sometimes I just want to state the obvious so the child can try to build from there.  Other ways to support each answer, especially when the child is close, is to use comments such as:

Very close!

She said ____.  Who can add to that?

Hmmm….(to an open-ended question, while nodding and smiling)

You’re on the right track!

You’re getting there!

Would you like to call on someone to help you?

Okay, I see where you’re going with that…

-Explicitly teach your students when to call out and when to raise their hands. You could use hand-raising as your general policy and have a hand signal, such as your hand cupped to your ear, to indicate you want the class to call out.  Use the word ‘choral response’ if you don’t want the kids to think it’s okay to ‘call out’.  Decide what you want kids to do in small groups.  I feel silly having them raise their hands when they’re sitting two inches away from me, but I have 8-9 kids in a group and don’t have a choice.  I use the shared inquiry method of teaching sometimes, especially with my above-grade-level group, and each time we review the two rules of shared inquiry so the kids know what we’re about to do and that they don’t need to raise hands.  When the lesson is over, we go back to our regular method of raising hands.

- Some kids always think they know the answer: deal with this type of student on an individual basis.  Some understand they can’t always be called on and don’t pout or cry.  Others need more stroking.  Sit the child up front and occasionally ask that child to mouth, whisper, or show the answer to you before you call on someone- a quick nod in that child’s direction is sometimes all they need.  You can use Think-Pair-Share techniques so the child can talk often, only s/he is sharing with a partner instead of the class. 

- Give them a choice: you’ll call on every single hand every single time you ask a question and everyone can stay at school until 6:00 p.m., or they can let you use your judgment and just call on a few people.  I throw this one out there when someone sighs and moans because I moved on without getting his or her input.  They laugh and accept their decision very easily!  One warning though: depending on your students, you may have some kids who would love to stay all night, so be wary about this one backfiring.  If some smarty says they want to stay, smile and tell them you’ll give worksheets to do all night long. 

- For the kid who never raises his/her hand: find other ways to check for understanding.  Face it, some people are by nature more introverted and don’t enjoy speaking in front of a large group of their peers, especially when they’re not in their element.  I don’t 'force' them to very often, maybe twice a day.  Whenever those kids do raise their hands, call on them first and praise their responses.  If you want to know if they understand, ask one-on-one during independent work times, or check the pencil and paper work they are during.  They don’t have to tell you in front of the whole class for you to know if they’re getting it- participation can be as simple as staying on task, listening carefully, and looking at the speaker.

- Make a strict no-laughing-at-people’s-answers policy.  Two years ago, my class would say things like ‘good try’ and wait patiently for me to talk through questions with the slower kids.  But my class last year started off very cruel at times.  They would openly sigh, roll their eyes, and groan if someone took too long to answer or gave a totally off-base answer.  I had really had to work hard at teaching them to sit silently and wait for their peers to get the right answer.  We did a role-play in which I gave everyone a really tough math sheet and then asked some of my worst culprits to answer the questions orally, rapid-fire.  During the first minute of the questioning, I asked the class to be intentionally rude and impatient, laughing at the people who didn’t know the answers.  We discussed how that made them feel.  For the second minute, the class was asked to be silent and wait, then praise their classmates for eventually getting the correct responses.  We then talked about how they felt after that.  To drive the point home, the children worked in groups to create posters listing what to do and what not to do when other people are answering questions.  Now I just have to be extra careful about how I respond to incorrect answers so I consistently provide a good model!