Teaching+Techniques

Phrases for Improving Classroom Communication
Instructors in the United States generally believe that students learn best when they are active participants in the classroom. The following phrases are suggestions for ways that teachers can appropriately encourage student participation. Notice that even when the students make mistakes, the tone of the expressions is not highly critical; instead, the instructor is trying to guide the students in the correct direction.

Inviting participation & discussion
Do you have any thoughts on this subject? What do you think about this? Do you agree that...? How do you feel about...? How does this compare with Professor Smith’s theory about...? What’s the point of this experiment? Would someone like to add to what Zheng just said? Can someone else help to correct this answer? Part of what you said is correct, but not all of it.

Encouraging feedback
Are there any questions? Would anyone like me to repeat that? Is that clear to everyone?

Responding to //correct// student answers to questions
Right! You’ve got it. Good thinking. Juan has raised an interesting point.

Responding to //incorrect// student answers to questions (trying to soften the negative)
Good guess, but you haven’t got the right answer. That’s an interesting idea, Jennifer, but it’s not quite right. What do the rest of you think? Nice try, Huang, but not quite right. You’re close, but... Lee is asking whether... Sarah thinks that...

Giving hints (encouraging the student to revise the answer)
You’re on the right track, Elvis, but you haven’t considered... If you do this, what do you think will happen? If we follow your suggestion, here’s what might happen. But what about...? What if you looked at this problem in another way, by...?

Clarifying student comments
I’m not sure I understand what you’re trying to say, Sergei. Could you restate your comment In other words, Hillary, you’re saying... If I understand correctly, you’re asking... Is that right? Could you give me an example of what you mean? Would you please repeat your question? Could you explain that?

Repeating or paraphrasing a question or comment for the rest of the class
Did everyone hear what Luis said? He wanted to know... According to Luis...

Follow up, to be sure everyone understands
Do you all get this point? Does everyone see how we solved this problem? Is this definition clear now? Would you like me to go over another problem?

Asking about student progress
How’s it going here? Do you need any help with this, Liz? Are you having any trouble with this procedure?

Interrupting or redirecting conversation
Let me interrupt for a minute... Let’s get back to our main point... Your comments relate to our next topic... May I add something here?

Expressing an opinion
I think that... I believe that... In my opinion...

Expressing agreement
I agree with your idea that... I think you’re right about that... That’s a good point.

Expressing disagreement
I disagree with your viewpoint. On the other hand, have you considered... I’m afraid I can’t agree with what you’ve just said because... But don’t you think...

Closing a discussion
Finally,... I’ll summarize by saying... Are there any final questions?