By Kaitlin Zieser-

Where does your class grade come from? Does it come from your homework? Maybe your test scores? Many classes also incorporate participation points. While participating in your classes is definitely a positive thing, some teachers grade participation in a seemingly unfair way.

We talk all the time about how everyone learns differently and how we should be teaching in ways that will work for everyone. With this in mind, I feel it is safe to say that judging participation points solely on how many times students talk in class is unfair.

If teachers base participation only on how many times a students speaks in class discussion, points can be earned for something said that doesn’t even necessarily apply to the subject of discussion.

In every class, there are always those few people who love to speak up. They have their hand raised for every question and always have something that they wish to add. While this is great for moving discussions along, if those few people answer all the time, students with a more quiet personality may miss out on the opportunity to share.

Whether we like it or not, as human beings we are drawn to certain things and people. Teachers sometimes get in the habit of calling on the same certain people. That does not mean that they are playing favorites, or intentionally leaving others out. However, times do occur when the same few people will be consistently called on and receiving many participation points, leaving the potential for students slipping under the radar.

Introverted students go to class, do homework, do well on tests, and their grades look great… until teachers add in the participation points. Most of the time, they are just as engaged in class as those kids talking and answering all of the questions. They may be quiet, but they are listening intently and may even be taking notes. It is just not in their personality to want to draw attention to themselves and speak up, which in some cases causes them to lower their good grades, solely because they participated in a way that didn’t involve talking in class.

The best way to give participation points would be to accommodate for different kinds of learners. If students seem to be engaged in class they should receive their participation points for whichever style they participate in. The only way participation should drop your grade is if the student is not engaged in class.

Being engaged in class is an important factor to how well a student will do in school. Just as kids learn in different ways, they also participate in class in different ways, and should not be punished for actively participating in a quiet manner.