Cold Calling

Cold calling is a strategy used to promote student participation. The teacher chooses students randomly to answer questions and interact with the rest of class. When I began to use this method, it reminded me of when I started law school last fall (long story). Anyway, it forces students to focus on the material at hand. Also, I can imagine that in the long run, students would study material at home in order to avoid embarrassment the next day in class.
Instead of using this activity for the whole class, I used it when we broke into smaller groups. Because of the relaxed atmosphere of the smaller groups, I hoped it would keep the students' focus a little better. We were doing an activity of literary analysis, and I let the students write their responses before giving them to the class. When I chose students to respond aloud, the feedback was okay, but not that great. I realized that Cold Calling will only be effective if students understand the material 100 percent. Because they didn't fully understand the idea of literary analysis (and some still don't--even though we've tried various ways of explaining it) ahead of time, some of them sat with blank faces as I called on them.
I do find the idea of Cold Calling beneficial, however, because the students paid attention. I can see that in the long run, it will be effective. I think it is a practice that will have to be established over time in order to reinforce its overall impact. I am somewhat hesitant to use this strategy, because I feel that my job is to teach (and not to embarrass). However, I am hoping that Cold Calling will keep students on their toes and will convey to them the importance of the material.