Helping Introverts in the Classroom

Over at the Law School Academic Support blog, Lisa Bove Young gives a link to a TED talk on the subject by Susan Cain and offers ways to help introverted students contribute in the classroom:

• Rethink participation during class and provide alternative means to have students engage with the material or with each other.
• See each student as an individual who expresses their ideas and knowledge in multiple and various ways.
• Have students sign up to be the expert for a particular class period or for a particular set of cases.
• Use think- pair-share prior to full classroom discussions about a topic, case, or set of problems.
• Distribute or post discussion questions with the reading assignment prior to class.
• Allow students to pass in class (within reason).
• Teach students how to brief cases and prepare for class discussions.  This type of transparency will create more engaged students and lead to a more a dynamic discussion.
• Do not call on students too quickly.  Let the question stew with the class and allow introverts more time to reflect and process. 
• Consider a flipped classroom so that students feel more prepared to discuss and/or participate during class time. 
• Use technology in the classroom.  Technology is ubiquitous, and can be integrated it into the classroom to provide added layers of participation and engagement- especially for diverse learners.
• Create learning groups, which will help make a large law school classroom more accessible to introverts.
• Reflect on your own learning style and personality.  How do they affect your teaching style and how is your delivery received by extroverts and introverts?  How can alter your style to be more inclusive?

You can access the information here.

(ljs)