Equity sticks, lucky ducks, cold calling. Three different ways to say the exact same thing. I used to be that teacher who felt like cold calling on kids was terrible and should never be done. Now, I can’t imagine not using them within my classroom.

For me, using equity sticks is the best way to get every one of my students engaged in what we are doing and it holds them accountable to contributing to our class conversations. Before you assume that I use equity sticks to call on a student and put them on the spot with no support hear me out.

The main way that I have allowed for equity sticks to feel safe and to be used within my classroom is by creating routines that support their use. In the very beginning of the year I teach my students that if they get called on they cannot say “I don’t know” or “I didn’t do it”. Instead, I teach them how they can communicate what they need to be able to share their thinking clearly. Sometimes they may need to talk to a partner and other times maybe they just needed to hear the question asked again.

For example, if a student missed the question and doesn’t know what they were called on to answer they can say, “can you repeat the question?” or they can say “I did not hear the question, can you please ask it again?”. But, what if a student did hear the question but didn’t understand what it meant? Then, they can ask “I don’t understand the question. Can you please ask it in a different way?”.

Now, there are certain times when the student that I called on DID hear the question and they don’t need to hear it in a different way. Maybe they don’t know how to answer it at all, so what then? Well, I teach them to either ask for support from a classmate or from me. These sentence stems sound like this… “can I have a heads together with my table?”, or “can I check back in with my partner?” or, “I’m not sure how to get started. Can you help me work through it?”.

What I have loved most about using equity sticks is that during work time, or closure I have noticed a significant increase in student engagement. Since my students know that anyone can get called on they are more engaged and listening with attention. Additionally, I love that it allows for me to be able to hear from ALL of my students instead of the handful that always want to share.

If you are reading this and wanting to try equity sticks in your own classroom please take this as your sign to give it a try. Just remember that all good practices take practice. It took my students multiple weeks of using equity sticks to be able to respond appropriately and feel comfortable enough to share. Know too, that it may look different for different students and that is okay. I have some students who struggle more than others in certain subject areas so when they are going to get called on I typically give them a heads up and allow them extra think time with a partner before they get called on. If what they share is mostly the thinking of their partner that is absolutely okay because they still are the ones sharing it aloud and getting practice using academic vocabulary to explain their work.

ALL students are capable of sharing their thinking and ALL students are worthy of having their thinking visible inside of a classroom. If you use equity sticks in your classroom in a similar way, or different way I would love to hear about it in the comments! Happy teaching! (: