Summary: “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” Ben Franklin, as always, dropping wisdom. And as I’ve found, listening to actual philosophers usually affords the best teaching philosophy. In this case, it’s spot-on. But how do you get kids involved in a preschool discussion every single day?<br> Stop asking students to raise their hands!<br> <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/punk-rock-preschool-podcast/id1226551045">Find out how you can make this work in your classroom.</a><br> <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/punk-rock-preschool-podcast/id1226551045"></a><br> When I called on students individually, the class could never keep their focus for very long. Students’ attention spans would slowly fade as they waited for each of their classmates to work through an answer. By the time you’ve called on all twenty students, most of them have tuned out. Not to mention, this slow process zaps the energy and excitement that you built with the hook of your lesson. It’s no wonder Einstein said, “It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education.”<br> I know what you must be thinking. “No hand raising? It still sounds hectic and wild and like a crazy classroom!” Well, maybe… but that’s what excited, involved participation looks like! The classroom is electric! I am willing to deal with a louder, more excited classroom if it also means this kind of excitement. By removing the barriers to participation and encouraging students to join in on the fun, carpet time will become the greatest part of the day! Instead of calling on every student, come to the carpet and ask every student to call out! Watch as participation, engagement, and the energy in your classroom jump to new levels you never thought possible!<br> If my students had an idea to share, I wanted to hear it! Each morning I would ask an open-ended question, then we would open up the floor to a free-for-all of rapid fire responses. During this extreme brainstorm, it felt you like you were actually in a hurricane or tornado of answers! Before you know it, kids will be throwing answers at you faster than you can handle! To get a better feel for these open-ended questions listen to <a href="https://punkrockpreschool.com/008">Episode 008: How to Teach Critical Thinking in Preschool.</a> You can also purchase our <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Punk-Rock-Preschool">weekly lesson plans </a>that include everything you’ll need to help your students make high-level connections and participate at the most in-depth levels.<br> Now this may still sound a little chaotic, after all I just said kids will be “throwing” answers at you and it will feel like a “hurricane or tornado.” Even if that’s the case, <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/punk-rock-preschool-podcast/id1226551045">this podcast episode is your lifeboat in the storm (the brainstorm, that is).</a><br> I’ll always be straight-up with y’all. I had concerns when I started this style too. Thankfully, in spite of my worries, students began to adapt to the free-for-all environment and their personalities boomed! And I’ll admit it — I was a bit surprised! The first surprise had to do with our class ended up developing an extremely strong culture of respect. By shouting out answers and having students talk over one another, you would think that would send the wrong message about respecting the ideas and sharing time with others. Not so!<br> Whenever I would call on a student to explain their answers, the rest of the class would fall silent and listen. This is because we always knew that we could learn from anyone and everyone and we should always listen when someone had the floor. Our classroom rule was eyes and ears on the speaker; not the teacher. By not raising hands,
