Encouraging quiet students to participate at Belfast Metropolitan College 🚀
Thomas Courtley
Education Specialist
Madeline Whiteside, a Film & Media teacher at Belfast Metropolitan College, was struggling with a particularly shy student in her class. He hardly ever participated, especially during group activities, and avoided sharing verbal feedback. It was frustrating both for her, and for his parents.
Give quiet students a podium to express themselves
Determined to find a solution, Madeline decided to try something new. She started using LessonUp to add interactivity to her lessons. The first time she added a digital open question the reaction of her students was surprisingly consistent. As the minutes ticked by, her class was filled with quiet concentration:
“I decided to set the LessonUp timer to two minutes. My students had to come up with their answers to questions within the appointed time. Everyone was concentrating, quietly typing and thinking. For the first time, I had tangible proof of what my shy student was capable of. His results were great! ”
During the next parent-teacher conference, Madeline proudly showed his parents the reports from LessonUp. They were so relieved!
“It was wonderful to be able to show his parents their son’s progress. They were reassured to see the evidence of his participation and understanding.”
For Madeline, the transformation in her classroom was a complete triumph. By using an interactive teaching platform, she solved her initial challenge. All her students became included and engaged during lesson time, and even the shyest kid felt safe to express himself.
An unexpected extra benefit of teaching with LessonUp
After a few weeks working with LessonUp, Madeline became faster in creating lessons, testing her students, and implementing the whole range of interactive features.
"It is worth investing a bit of time in learning how to use LessonUp. It isn’t difficult. For me, it has cut the lesson preparation time."
She experienced how the interactive options within the platform are easy to fill in and implement. Once you have the right lesson layout for your class, the rest is what you’re already doing every day as a teacher.
Join Madeline and the 80.000+ teachers who engage their students with LessonUp!
