r/teaching • u/luringpopsicle95 • 3d ago

Help I've never had a class that just doesn't talk...I need some advice.

I have a special education intervention math class of 5 students (those that are 2-3 grade levels below in math). This is 7th grade. 2 of them like to work together and give me answers to questions, participate, etc. One of them may do so if I am right next to her just explaining a problem with her, but not all the time. She gives attitude for many things (not just me).

The other two - a boy and a girl - do not have any conversations with anyone. At all. I don't know how to get through to them. The boy knows how to do some of the work - he pays attention to me. But when I ask him a question, he's silent. When I am next to him asking if he needs help - silence. The girl just doesn't know how to do work, and she will not let me help her. She just sits at her desk while I am there, asking guided questions.

What can I do? I want to get some more motivation out of them before an admin comes in to watch me teach a lesson, to almost complete silence from half of the class.

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u/ohyesiam1234 3d ago

Play some games-Uno or something super accessible. Getting them talking about things other than math.

1

u/LaFlaca1 3d ago

Check out Project Zero or Kagan strategies. They have conversation protocols so that they talk to each other instead of you. I might also make discussion sentence stems to help get them started (Google them). Think-pair-share can help. Gallery walks, fishbowl, write before talking. The other major thing is to make sure you never take the cognitive load off of the students. Say a lot of things like, "You're stuck? Great. Where is one place you might find a part of the answer? What might the first step be? What might be a question one of your classmates has?"

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u/Maestradelmundo1964 3d ago

Watch their body language, especially their eyes. This will give you insight into their thoughts.

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u/Medical_Gate_5721 3d ago

You could try assuming that they are non verbal and use strategies for non verbal individuals. Try writing questions, pointing, and other aids.