Thread by @DidaVonMoltke

My personal way to cold calling, a short 🧵. I started using CC even before reading TLAC. Now I use it a bit less, and differently. In a more structured way, you could say. 1/n

In general, I use CC for answers too long to fit on a miniboard. But still, once you pick someone to answer (after a pause, of course), attention fades. Some students might even just hope they won't be called, in spite of your efforts to take everyone in. How to solve that? 2/n

You have to make it more choral. Before cold calling, I ask my students to write down on their boards the key words of their answers. If I want them to describe Augusuts policies, they'll write down something like "SPQR, dictatorship in disguise, peace, prosperity, morality" 3/n

Only then do I properly cold call. Why do I think it's better? For several reasons. The first is that it's way more difficult to opt out. Some students take their bets and the risk of being called isn't enough to nudge them into making a real effort. 4/n

Secondly, I add to cold calling all the advantages of mini-white boards in terms of checking for understanding (or retention of knowledge). But there is another perk, possibly the most important one. 5/n

Thanks to the MWBs, you can compare answers. You can cold call several students and then use the MWBs to help the class comparing what has been said (without this visual aid, words fly away -verba volant!- and it gets harder for students to make meaningful comparisons) 6/n

Otherwise, after cold-calling a student or two, you can discuss with the whole class some of the key words proposed by other students. This way, one can add nuances or discuss different perspectives or, of course, dispel misconceptions. And there is one final perk 7/n.

As students give their talks, I usually write down an outline of the speech on the class board, so that I can revise what has been said and offer guidance. This is where the key words on the MWBs come in handy again 8/n

You can pick some of the ideas the students wrote down and show the class how you can use them to enrich a talk: you can show where to add an example, or a comparison or a link to another topic. 9/n

At this point, a pair&talk is just perfect to have your student practicing the enriched version of the original talk (or revise their own with the suggestions you just gave). That's it. Hope it's useful! @Doug_Lemov @adamboxer1 @DavidDidau