Including Introverts in the Classroom

I'm going to step away from my usual children's books and review a book written for adults.  It made me to understand myself better and to better help my quieter students.

My sister gave me Quiet and told me that I should read it.  Why?  Well quite simply because it is a book about the power of being introverted, of being quiet, of being observant.  And well, I have a tendency to be introverted, quiet, and observant.

I greatly enjoyed reading this book.  One of the first things that I noticed is that Susan Cain makes a point and supports it thoroughly with research and anecdotes.

Each chapter is well-drafted without rambling (a tendency that I have noticed in several non-fiction books...why did the author feel the need to include that?).

Being a solid introvert, I loved reading about how my brain works in comparison with extroverts.  While extroverts are better multi-taskers, introverts are better at deeper, more meaningful thinking.

Susan Cain wrote of countless number of psychology research studies that gave a fuller meaning to introvert from working with babies to how introverts perform in relation to extroverts.

As I read this book, surrounded by the research, I felt empowered.  I understood who I am better-- I do need quiet moments alone, I am good at listening, I am more expressive in writing, I am sensitive to those around me, I am better one-on-one than a large group, and I have to plan and practice for public speaking.  

Though yes we do live in an extrovert world, I can be successful by focusing on my introverted qualities in a way that will not drown out what I have to say.

However, though it is an empowering book for introverts, I also found that it was extremely helpful in how I run my classroom.

One research study within the book was a computer game where the people had to click on numbers and discover whether or not that number would increase their score or decrease it.

Naturally, introverts did much better at this game because they paused and evaluated the situation before acting.  Extroverts had a go-go-go mentality and so made more mistakes.  If the extroverts were forced to slow down though, they did just as well.

Within my classroom, I do a lot of group work and project based learning where the students are in charge of their work.

After reading a portion of this book, I began including think time.

I would present the students with a problem or a task to solve.  Before I let them get into their groups, I had them quietly think and write their ideas down for about 5 minutes to share when their group met.

By doing this, I noticed that the discussion within the group was richer and not dominated by my more out-going children.

What works for introverts also benefits extroverts.

Quiet claimed that teachers believe the best students are the extrovert children because they are constantly raising their hand and participating.

However, I would also argue that they are also the more challenging students because if they are not getting the attention they need, they begin causing problems.

Have you ever seen the child in the back of the classroom who is constantly reading cause chaos?  No.  I have not, but I have seen these students take on leadership to politely encourage their more out-going students to stay on task.

With this, the book also discussed that introverts are often more motivated by the negative consequence as opposed to extroverts who are more likely to react to the positive reward.

So an introvert is more motivated to behave in class because if he doesn't, he will disappoint his teacher or worse his parents; while an extrovert is more motivated by the rewards received by doing right.  Within the classroom, this makes so much sense.

I remember one time in first grade my teacher told me to get in line.  I asked her why.

I was not being rebellious; I just really wanted to know why.  She got mad at me and told me I had to spend part of recess under the tree.  I was mortified.

Let's just say, I never asked why again because I did not want that same horrific experience. However, it was the more out-going children who were under a tree every single day.

Within my classroom, I notice that I have fewer behavior problems when I have a more positive management system.

No I do not go out and buy little toys every time the children have a great day.

One thing though that worked in my classroom this year was earning knighthood as we studied the medieval period.  The children had to progress from page to squire to knight by earning chivalry points (or stickers).

In all, they had to earn 180 chivalry points in order to be knighted.  In the end, the children did not care about the stickers, what they really cared about was getting knighted (some even threw the stickers away immediately after the knighting ceremony).

Throughout the weeks, they eagerly and proudly counted their stickers and calculated how many they needed to the next level.

So in this case, what is helpful for extroverts can be helpful for introverts too.

This book showed me the strengths of both introverts and extroverts.

Together we make the world sweeter.  We feed off of each other to strengthen our weaknesses and to balance each other.

I find it amazing how God created each one of us uniquely, but He did so in a way that we complement each other.   I would highly recommend this book for introverts to better understand yourself in an extroverted world, for extroverts who want to understand introverts better, for teachers, and for parents to understand the unique traits of each.

And after reading this book, don't be surprised if I ask you, "Are you an introvert or an extrovert?"