I used to try to make eye contact with the teacher and appear very attentive, and then when they asked a question, I would divert my eyes and scribble in my notebook. Ha.

Maybe you should become skilled in the art of providing bullsh** answers. =D

I do have a couple of students that I can tell work extremely hard, and I can tell by their homework and quiz scores that they have learned the material; however, they’re uncomfortable being called on, so I keep it to a minimum.

The students I make a point of calling on are the ones who divert their eyes, don’t make eye contact with me, and generally try to slink down in their chairs…these are the ones that probably need my help, but if I can’t tell what level of comprehension they’re at, I can’t help them. Hence, I call on them.

Hope that helps 🙂

(I have small classes, by the way, so I can do that. If you’re in a large class, chances are you’re going to get called on no matter what. Looking like you’re paying attention and following up with the work helps, though!)

You might guess that I am a teacher myself. I try to make sure I call on everyone at least once during class.

Also – and this depends on the layout of the classroom – the front corners can be quite a good bet to get overlooked because the teacher often has to turn to look at you since you aren’t in their direct vision.