speaker 0:   0:00
welcome to re teach a place where professors know the student equity gap can be closed and I willing to put in the work to figure it out. We are dedicated to our teaching in Our students were passionate about improving our classrooms and our communities. We can make a difference. We will make a difference. I am your host, Bruce Hoskins, in my mind and heart are ready to learn. So what's up, everyone? So hey, so just like how I promised I'm going to spend I'm gonna break apart all those four quick things and then, um, you know, and really focused this episode on classroom participation and how to look at classroom participation to an equity lens. We had already started thinking about it, and then I even told you the punchline of what areas I want to go. But I want to tell you Maur about the thinking that goes around, how to do your classroom participation and look at it through an equity lens versus just do what I do. What I said just said or suggested or whatever it's, there's a thinking that goes around it, that I really want us to thio, analyze and to see if there's any equity space is for us to magnify as we're going along. Right? S so then right. Someone were thinking about classroom participation, remember? Right. It's like think about who are we privileging when we do a certain style when we do our certain techniques and whatnot and were clearly you know, what The way that I was doing Classroom participation. I was clearly, um privileging extroverts. The thing is, though, is that this was really beneficial to the style of classroom that I wanted. And so I felt good. I felt it was necessary to privilege this idea of them talking in class in order to get the kind of classroom that classroom discussions that I wanted. And so and so there are so there. Is that right? So that's design. I wanted people to talk. And so that was part of my design. However, on privileging extroverts. Now here's the deal. Is that I think I'm fairly confident that everybody has their fair share of introverts and extroverts and so I'm not really bothered by that. But when we start talking about people who talk a lot in class is not just extroverts It's also males males. They definitely tend to talk in class more often. And females remember when we're doing this, that there's people who have processing challenges, right? Eh? So we want to be mindful of that, right? It's like the people are not necessarily processed the question off the way that you're asking it, or they needed to be said again and things like that. And so therefore, them not being able to answer the question when you ask, it doesn't mean that they don't want to participate. It's how can we create an environment where students can participate most freely and responsibly and and things like that? That's that's definitely part of this drill, right? And so then students who don't speak English as a first language. We're definitely, ah, you know, they're definitely at a disadvantage when they're coming into the space. That doesn't mean that there's not students who who's speaking class actually have one right now who has a very thick Spanish accent. But she's fine talking in class, and I'm fine with her talking in class. However, a lot of students who do not speak English as a first language may be challenged with that. And so we need Thio, right? Take that in consideration. Lower social economic status students is that what we know is that different education systems teach different things right when you're tracked, when you're working class school, you're working class neighborhood and that's what your school has is its tracks is like it's it's it knows of that is teaching a middle class? Excuse me? A working class spaces like Look, those bases operate very differently than the spaces that have middle class students have a right to have a lot of middle class students. I know this, you know. Like I said, it's research and everything in the ocean side, like Ocean Side for the Oceanside, California It's very There's much more higher concentration of working class folks. We definitely have our middle class folks, and we have some elite folks also now, too. But that education, when you're not in the A p I B tracks, is definitely focuses much more on rote memorization and things like that versus stressing participation is so students of the lower socioeconomic status, um, it may take him a longer time, literally. It may take him a longer time to learn just how to talk in class and how the far end that is comfortable to participate because they've been told for so long that they're that they're supposed to be quiet, right? And that goes where for students of color, also right is like their socialized. And this is to be said that students of color are socialized in the education system that equates it. Obedience with silence, right is that obedience and silence go hand in hand. Um, and of course, this happens in other spaces is not just people of color, but when we're talking about a P I B students and stuff like that, they're definitely not taught that obedience and silence go hand in hand. They are definitely taught to participate and to talking class talking classes like group projects and things like that, and so and doing group presentations or, you know, or doing presentations of classes So they know that the classroom is actually a speaking environment, while people who are not in a P I B classes, which is lower socioeconomic folks, people of color and whatnot. That's where the challenges would lie, right? You know, folks, I literally get people like students who talk who don't talk for, like, the 1st 2 months. And then after two months, they start talking to my class because they finally have figured out that this that I really do want to hear what they have to say. I really do want them to talk in class and it takes him a long time. Two months in order for them. T beat that socialization that they that they received indicate to 12 system and sold them as I'm looking at classroom participation. So Okay, so we talked about privileges. But now So how do you demonstrate to students that you value their classroom participation? What? Me, But you got to give you got to get points to it. And so for me, it's about 20% of their great classroom participation, about 20% of the great. And so how I do it, right, it's kind of this This idea of a think pair share type of deal, um, is not quite that, but it works a cz Ah, you know, kind of a shorthand of saying it's like, Look, I want my students to think about something first. So what I what I do classroom participation. I normally do it on days on specified days that are designed for classroom discussion. Hopefully, that actually makes sense. I'm gonna talk about that actually a little bit later, because as I was thinking about this episode, I really understood like, Oh, that's actually part of design and I want to emphasize that in another space, But so what? I measure classroom participation. I do it on the day that is designed for discussion, right, designed to measure their classroom participation rather than just kind of collecting it haphazardly, if you would, because that's how I used to do it before, used to just kind of collected. As you know, I would ask this random question during my lecture or whatever and then whoever raised a hand and those are the people who are called on and that's how I was mentally keeping track of classroom participation. But this is a way more structured way of collecting classroom participation, right? And so what I tell them to do is I get out of a separate sheet of paper, write your name on this, you're gonna be handing us in. Don't expect to get this back as I don't like grating like Like why grade it. But, um, if I hadn't back all the assignments that I'm doing, it takes way too much time of class. And so there's some assignments that I just take it. And then in canvas, I can make a comment like if they got graded down and I let him know what? What I graded down or whatever on campus, But I don't I don't hand this back. However you could hand this back. I just recommend that you don't have it back Every single time, Rose, you're gonna want to spending, like, 10 15 minutes per class, handing back all this stuff as so save it, save it, and then hand it back in Bunches. I think that would work. Um, if you wanted the alternative style if you wanted Thio actually write a great on it and then ah, and you know, give him some feedback and write it back. It handed back to him. That'd be a way to do it. And so for me, though, I take this So I tell him it's like a separate sheet of paper s o. There are even be. There's days where I put up writing props. And so though the work on these riding prompts or something like that, that'll be a measure of their classroom participation, right? So Or I tell them, or I showed him a video in class, and then I have them write about it first. It's like, just just tell me your thoughts. As you know, with your what you're thinking about this video. What? Your critique. What did you like? What you did not like And I don't ever write those things up on the board. I just tell them it's like, Look, just tell me what you think about the video. Tell me you know how How does that make you feel things like that? Because for me, as a sociologist, right, it's like this a sociology class. I just know that you know, when people are struggling with those things or, you know, just putting down what they like, what they don't like. You're actually being very sociological when you're doing all that stuff, and so I never worry about that. So I have the right. So the key is to set one right. How I'm right. First, have him write this. So therefore, even when someone's having processing types of challenges having them right, Let's, you know, like when you read what they're writing to let you know that they were either on track or off track. You know you can You can critique it from there and then, you know, critique the questions that you asked and create a better design and create better questions if if the students aren't answering in a way, that's that's helpful for you. But the only way you can really measure that is if students are writing and they are actually like giving you feedback on stuff like that. So that's what I'm encouraging into space for for you, Thio Measure like to have students participate by writing also right by having them right also. And to really value that over right, Because in order for this to really work right, they have to be present in the class and they have to be writing and participating like that. And so this is what I'm measuring right? And what not s o. The second part is that's what you can have him talk, right? You And this is where the thing pair share things. I don't. I don't do the pair share part of it. Um, after I show a video and have them write, I normally go straight to the classroom space and start, you know, and asked the class. Well, what did you think about that? Right. Um, but a lot of people that use this technique and that is to prepare the students up first and have them share with each other right first. And then, you know, you could even do another like pairing if you wouldn't get into groups of four on and then they share. And then from there, you kind of report out right? You kind of report out from from that space regarding what people shared in that space. That's a technique. I don't do that. I don't do that. I don't I don't break people down. That's not something that I personally value in the structure of my class. However, it's it's a definitely a solid technique, right? As so. Then what I'm thinking, though, when I do it, what I do is I go from writing. And then I asked the students Well, what do you think about that? And this kind of brings me to step number three, which is always asking easy question to start a classroom discussion. Don't ask them, You know, something really specific. Like okay, how a socialization demonstrated in this video or something like that. Just asking what they think. And this will get students to talk way Maur Well, more likely get students to talk. Then if you ask them something very specific or technical, it was not. It regards to content because remember, for me, I'm not trying to get them to talk in order to get them to connect the ideas for themselves. I feel like that's my job. When I'm doing this, that's my job is to connect the sociology to their experiences and their thoughts of what not That's my job. I want to show them how that works. From what I do, I want to facilitate that versus necessarily that they start off with all of this, you know, sociological knowledge that they're trying to, uh that they're trying to explain back to me Eso That's like I said, that's the way that I construct my class, right? And then there s so that's the way I construct my class. And so when they turn in their paper for participation points. I give him seven points just for writing something decent. Okay, So, like, this is this is very lightly grated for me s o just for turning in something decent. I'm like, Okay, that's at least seven points. Two points for making a sociological observation, Which for me, I hold out again at a very low bar. Um, you know, if someone says, Hey, I wonder why girls were treated this way in that video? Well, then, that's a sociological observation. So, you know, I I know some people are upset about that, but it is. That's what I'm valuing into space. But what not and then one point for me is for using a specific concept. And so I'd like I told you, I'm not using this in order for them to give me specific sociological concepts. I'm using this in order to facilitate their social large, cool imagination and their social. And they're processing of social things, their social world. That's what I'm doing this for. And so that's why I would have the points like that feel free to adjust those points. However it is did you want? I'm just telling you like the overall philosophy of what it is that I'm trying to do here. Andi, I know that a lot of people are gonna ask me, like, what? The point value and stuff like that. And so that's that's how I would break it down. Um, that's how I break it down when it comes to, like, quote grading this assignment, right? But here's the part that I don't think we really think about a whole bunch. And that is, if you want a value classroom participation that you got to give it a good point value. And so, for me, classroom participation is about 20% of their grade. This is a real thing for me, and I always like I said, I do it like I've literally structured my classes so that participation is a big thing on what not we take whole days, the whole classroom periods just to discuss ideas. And what in content vs me covering content, right? And so then, in order for you to really do the style that is that I'm talking about, you have it. I don't want to say you have to have a flipped classroom, but having a flipped classroom really helps meaning flipped classroom. From my understanding, is that your homework assignments and the student what the students do outside of class builds up and talks about the content, if you would while inside the class you want to make that more discussion oriented Maur situated around students and their learning and things like that. That's definitely going to help benefit you in regards to this style that I'm doing. If you try to insert this style into a content heavy, um, like classroom lecture, all you're gonna do it. Just get frustrated folks like, straight up and And so if you have been getting frustrated with stuff like this because you're trying to get your trying to get more discussion, but you are struggling with trying to cover content, that's that's the thing. That's the thing you're struggling with. Your that this style actually works really well in a flipped classroom setting where content is being covered outside the classroom while inside a classroom is literally dedicated to discussion and going into deeper thoughts and ideas and stuff like that. So that's that's That's what's going on here, folks, if that's why you're getting frustrated at least as part of it. And so I make this a big part of the great is about 20% of your grade. I take a running total as I'm going s so you know, if they're there, the first day they get is the classroom. Participation is 10 points of put up 10 points on campus, whatever. And then the next time classroom participation up the points to 2020 points and then add in whatever it is on, what night s So it's a running total. So people miss ah, class day In the beginning, it looks really bad. In the beginning, they feel really bad And they always stressed out like, Oh, my God, can, you know, make up these participation points is like it'll balance out in the end, I promise you. I mean, it always does. Um, s so I take a running total. Um, I take a classroom participation at least once a week s O for the way that I designed my classes is normally either the Monday of a Monday Wednesday class or a Tuesday of a Tuesday Wednesday class. Tonight do classroom participation. There's a design around that is because they did this homework assignment over the weekend, and I look at that and then I bring that into the Monday Tuesday class and show them their own work. I showed them their own work, the only things that they're interested in, and then that's where we have the classroom part is the classroom discussions and stuff like that. So that's where I based all of that on. And so that's my structure, right? So is at least once a week. So there's 16 weeks in a semester, right? So there's four weeks that you're either going to double count days, right? Um, what I do a lot of times is I actually there's a low like attendants day. For whatever reason, that's not like something that makes a lot of sense. Why there's a low, low attendance day. Then I'll take. I don't want to say attendance, but I'm not taking attendance, but I will do classroom to classroom participation like day, if you would what? I see that there's a lot of students missing because I really want to stress to the students to be here. This is this is really important. Being in class and discussing this is the most important part of this of this class, if you would. Now I want to caution you on that, though, in regards to, like the low attendance days that have a reason. Or there's, like something connected that, um, you know, like the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. That's a low attendance day. Now do you want to do that? Well, you could. I don't know if there's any equity concerns in that space, but there might be because in the space at our college, we don't take so we don't take things giving week off, which is completely dumb, But I'm not gonna talk about that right now, But I do know that a lot of students or that students who are parents that if they have a child in the K through 12 system will take 8 to 12 system and all of our in our entire district, they take Thanksgiving week off. And so then, you know, there's literally parents that may not have childcare in that space. On what not s o. You know, be kind. Whatever population it is that you're serving, be kind. Be aware of who you're serving and don't over penalize. You know, If you know that there's something going on and what not? And there's a reason why people may be absent. Then you might wantto give people the benefit of the doubt on what not, But that's that's the thing. And then off the other way, of kind of making up. The reason why I need to make up points is Thio is because I normally do it out of 200 points and so, you know, 10 points each blah, blah, blah, right. But the other way is that I can also count special classes. But I have, um, for, you know, student learning. What Now there's there's to me. There's a couple of key classes that I really want to make sure that students are at, um and I'll tell them in advance, right? It's like, Yo, this next class is gonna be like, really important to understanding how we're going to talk about, you know, class, sex, gender, sexuality and race and ethnicity. And so, you know, make sure you're here. I mean, what not? And so you know, so so things like that, you can also count, so right, so just trying to help people think around that. But at the end of all of it, I really I dropped two days out of the total, because look, we teach at a community college, and so bad things happen to community college students. And so this is where it's like, be kind, always come back, be kind, be kind of your students. And like I said, I expects to die. Tell a man to be very beginning of the semester. That is like, Look, I expect I expect most of you, if not all of you to miss, like, one week of school, right? You're gonna miss one week. And so I'm conscious of that, right? It's like we're conscious of that. We know we're gonna miss. We're gonna miss time as instructors. And so how could we not expect students to not be there also, for whatever reason is so you know, right? Don't don't punish people for being human and for having really human stuff. And so when we're talking about community colleges, everybody has problems. That's not what I'm talking about. What I'm talking about is that a community colleges, we definitely have a higher concentration of low socioeconomic status, folks. Right? And so with low socioeconomic status, folks, things can happen to them that don't happen with middle class folks. I mean, one thing I'm thinking of is, if your little social economic status person that you need to value your job, Maur than maybe a middle class person would s So when your boss calls you to come into work is like, yo, I can't lose my job. I can miss a day of class, but I can't lose my job. Your car breaks down now see me now I'm middle class. Before I was broke, man me and my car breaks down. This is a big deal. I can't do anything after my car breaks down to sub take public transportation. And that in Oceanside is like are this area It's like, notoriously bad. It would not Another spaces you could actually live on just public transportation and do just fine in county in Southern California, especially, Yeah, that's gonna be really That's a hard road, the hall right there. But, you know, my car breaks down. If my car broke down before is like that stopped. Everything that I was doing for the day now are middle class now. My car breaks down. I got two other cars in my family that I could use if I had to if I really had to do something. And so it's like and so right, be a tend to be kind, be you know, this is a student equity. These are student equity things that we should be thinking about, and so we should have a built in right. We should have it built into our grading system that things are going to happen to our students, especially since they're lower socioeconomic status and things like that. We need to build in some forgiveness into the system and whatnot it. So that's what that's what the dropping two days out of that total means and whatnot. And I already know that somebody all point people are already army. Whatever. I could help you individually with the points thing. I really can. I really could. But I'm just giving, you know, basic ideas now is so please forgive me for a lack of precision. And by the way, I did say about 20% of the grades. So right, so it is what it is, but anyway, and so he is to do and this is the part that I don't think a whole bunch of people talk about. And that is what? Why would you do the classroom participation thing? Don't do it if that's not what you value, right? That and this is what I mean by value. It is like when you do this when you do the classroom participation away that I'm talking about doing it right When you do that, this is these are some core things that you need that you need to have that you need to understand that students walk into a classroom of what a lot of knowledge already right? If you don't know and understand or appreciate that, then this whole classroom participation thing that I'm doing is not gonna be very beneficial to you. It'll actually not be beneficial to you at all. It'll actually bother you and, you know, make you do weird things in the classroom and whatnot. So if you don't value if you don't understand in value, that already this is so not the system that you want to implement in your class. Okay, Um, another thing that I feel like you need to value and doing what it is that I'm doing is that you really need Thio. Want to make the classroom feel like, ah, community. Okay, to feel like a community Now this is very different than small in the field. That you get from small groups, I would argue, is very different in the field that you get from small group small groups. Right? You're trying to get this, these students to interact with each other in a small right into the small groups in order to right? I mean, it's it's it's it's sound teaching. Ah, strategy and in order to get them to help each other and things like that to get to know each other and and whatnot. But for me to say that the classroom needs to feel like a community, I want the whole class of feel like a community all at once, not just as they're interacted in the small groups and so right. And so then that's that's That's the thing for me, right? Another thing that needs that you need to either no or value, is that you need to be like either one of these three things are all three of these things. Oh, at once and that is you need to be quick on your feet because students will ask you some crazy questions or they'll say things and it's like or though ask a really good question and, um, you know it would. It really helps when you have a lot of knowledge about something and whatnot is so you know, you can answer spontaneously and things like that you need, Like I said, And there's times when you need to kind of work with the with the question that the students asking to make sure that that's actually the question that they're asking Armand to get clarification of what? None. So that requires Ah, little bit of quick on your feet tape of thinking, having a lot of experience are ready. And so this helps, obviously, because you kind of know on anticipate some of the questions that they're gonna ask is so that works out right to whatever degree. But then this other one is that I don't think I hope other people think about is to be comfortable with saying that you don't know the answer and say, he's like, You know what? I'll get back to you on that one, because there will be times that students will ask you a question that you don't do that. You literally don't know the answer to. Don't see that as a sign or like sometimes like it's some kind of like lack of expertise or you're apart. Think of that as a, you know, learning opportunity for yourself. It's like, Look, I teach sociology, all of it right? But I'm only it. I'm only an expert in Chapter nine, the Race and Ethnicity chapter and really only wrote my dissertation on people of multi racial heritage and their identity, racial identity formation. And so what I'm an expert on is really small. What I can talk about is really big, and there's gonna be times when I don't know the answer to something. But that doesn't mean I'm any less of an expert on any less of a teacher. As a matter of fact, it's a good model to demonstrate for for people off for future, for future teachers and stuff like that, it's a good model to demonstrate its like to be humble as we're going about that. And, um, you know, lastly, I've said this before. I'll say this again. Really? If you're going to go like a flipped classroom is probably in order to get the full effect of what it is that I'm trying to do. You definitely need to not be content driven in the classroom. That doesn't mean being content driven is bad in the classroom. What that means is is that if you're really trying to mix this style in with a content heavy classroom structure, all you're gonna do is just get frustrated. All you're gonna do is just wind up cutting off really good conversations. You're gonna wind up saying, Man, this is a great spot, but we got to move on and things like that. So that's what If you really need to cover content, then don't try to mix this in, because all it'll do is frustrate you, right? So anyway, folks, that's all I got for this episode. I hope you learned something. Peace. Thank you for listening to this episode of Re teach. If you want to learn more about me or my open source introduction to sociology textbook, please go to Bruce Hoskins dot com In closing. I want to leave us all with the question. If you learn something today that you think would help closure student equity gaps. How long would it take to incorporate this into your classroom? A year, A semester? Next month. Today, no matter the time table, we must commit ourselves to becoming better. Teachers are students deserve it. All of them, not just the ones that are good already.