a student begins by being unable or unwilling to answer, you should strive to make the sequence end

as often as possible with the student giving a right or valid answer. Choose among four basic formats

to respond:

Format 1. You provide the answer; your student repeats the answer.

Format 2. Another student provides the answer; the initial student repeats the answer.

Format 3. You provide a cue; your student uses it to find the answer.

Format 4. Another student provides a cue; the initial student uses it to find the answer.

This is surely among the most helpful and efficient techniques for raising classroom expectations,

especially if:

   • Students tend to duck away from questions rather than answer them.

   • Students don’t hear themselves getting answers right.

   • The class lacks a culture of accountability and incentive for each individual.

Take the rigor of your interaction up a notch by wrapping up the sequence with a request for

another correct answer or an explanation of the “why.”