Active participation means that all of our students can be engaged in the learning process. Oftentimes as teachers, we ask a question and call on one or two students to give us an answer and we move on. This doesn’t mean that all of our students were engaged, however. When we use active participation, we use strategies like, “Give me a thumbs up if you agree,” and I can quickly scan to see if all my students are with me or not.

I can also do things like, “Take a moment and share with somebody sitting near you about what you think about this question.” This, again, gives me the opportunity for all of my students to be actively engaged in the learning process.

When I use active participation, I'm increasing the participation of all of my students and not just one or two that are answering my questions.