The Anechoic Classroom

After 24 years of teaching I have any number of cheap gimmicks to get students talking in class: group projects, problem solving exercises, staged debates and a few time-tested chin-scratchers that can prompt them to heave their hearts into their mouths. I've even been known to fake the occasional bout of laryngitis. But I confess to being stymied by the spring section of my first-year honors seminar. A more somnolent lot you will not find.
The cynical explanation for a class of non-talkers is they aren't doing the reading and don't wish to be found out. I know this group is doing the reading, however. I can tell by the quality and thoughtfulness of their written work. I know you sometimes run across the odd silent student who seldom says anything but is actually processing things on a deep level. But I've never run across an entire roomful of such people. I don't think that's it.
Okay, theory number two: they are terrified of saying something dumb. In W…
The cynical explanation for a class of non-talkers is they aren't doing the reading and don't wish to be found out. I know this group is doing the reading, however. I can tell by the quality and thoughtfulness of their written work. I know you sometimes run across the odd silent student who seldom says anything but is actually processing things on a deep level. But I've never run across an entire roomful of such people. I don't think that's it.
Okay, theory number two: they are terrified of saying something dumb. In W…