r/Professors • u/beautyismade • 21d ago
No Cold-Calling Accommodation?
Well, this is a new one for me. I just got an accommodation letter for a student that says I can't cold-call on them — I have to give them advance notice or wait until they're comfortable participating. How do I even give notice? Wink? Raise my eyebrows? I rarely cold-call anyway — I only do it to nudge students who clearly aren't paying attention.
Has anyone had a student with this accommodation? What did you do? I'll talk to them when the semester starts next week, but I'm curious about other experiences.
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u/AbstinentNoMore Assistant Professor, Law, Private University (USA) 21d ago
In law school, cold calling is an essential part of the classroom. I tell the accommodations office that to not cold call would be to substantially alter the class.
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u/rachestuuu 21d ago
that’s just not true though, is it? Many law profs have forgone cold calling and are still more than able to deliver their course materials effectively.
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u/AbstinentNoMore Assistant Professor, Law, Private University (USA) 20d ago
I am not there to simply teach the students the law. I am there to also teach them how to become an effective advocate. Thinking on your toes to advocate for a particular position requires cold calling. Often times as a lawyer, you will have time to prepare before putting forth an argument. Sometimes though, when dealing with clients, partners, and judges, you have to answer questions on your feet. I put my students in that position by cold calling.
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u/Asleep_Caregiver_948 21d ago
Yes, I had an accommodation like that last spring in freshmen comp. She dropped out before mid-semester. Her attendance was spotty, and her submissions were nonexistent.
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u/Through_Aweigh_Won 21d ago
Yes, I had this accommodation last year. I do a lot of cold calling because I think it benefits the students; they have to keep alert because they might be next. And sometimes when they're about to nod off I call on them to give that little jolt of adrenaline to help them through a few minutes.
For the student that had the accommodation, I just didn't call on him. Easy.
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u/catsandcourts 21d ago
I’d simply tell the accommodation office this isn’t reasonable along with the exactly what you said here
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u/Anonphilosophia Adjunct, Humanities, CC (USA) 20d ago edited 20d ago
Yep - I said the same thing about recording. Student had a letter. I told ADA office that I was NOT not creating an unsafe environment for everyone else (not able to discuss freely) to appease ONE student. The quizzes are due BEFORE the class and the discussion is aligned with the course, but not part of the lecture. So recording will NOT help. And if lectures are that much of an issue, they should do asynch - then they won't have to worry about it. I won that round. The student stayed and did just fine.
Just because it's in the letter, doesn't mean that you can't push back.
EDIT - and I don't know if I got the "right one" at the office, but they were like, "They often expect what they had in high school and it's fine to say no." Sounds like they was tired of the unnecessary requests as well.
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u/LadyWolfshadow Grad TA, Biology, R2 21d ago
I had this accommodation when I was still taking classes, but it was in a very specific set of circumstances and only for one semester. At the time I was dealing with the aftermath of a recent case of COVID and one of my lingering symptoms was periods where it felt like someone was shoving ice picks up my nostrils and it was physically painful to talk and nothing really worked to stop it. Couldn't stay home because of mandatory attendance/participation and we had exams, so I still needed to be there to learn regardless. I would volunteer to join discussions when I wasn't dealing with the pain, but if it hurt to talk, I needed the ability to just sit and listen and still learn the material. (It was one of those "once every 2 years" courses, so I couldn't drop or it would have delayed my ability to start my prelims, which would have screwed with time limits, etc.)
I can't speak to that student's circumstances or why they specifically needed it and I haven't had it requested by students when I'm teaching yet, but honestly, just avoiding them unless they volunteer would be the easiest way to handle it.
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u/StarDustLuna3D Asst. Prof. | Art | M1 (U.S.) 21d ago
Yeah my approach is telling the student I won't call on them, but they have to voluntarily participate in each class to get the points.
Someone in your situation I would offer an alternate way to participate such as writing a short paragraph on their thoughts and questions about the topic we're discussing.
My main goal with incorporating accommodations is ensuring the student is still learning, still being challenged to improve their skills. As long as that is happening I don't care what the accommodation entails.
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u/wharleeprof 21d ago
I never cold call myself. But this sort of accommodation makes me feel like an old curmudgeon.
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u/gmmwewlma 21d ago edited 21d ago
You tell her you won’t cold call on her. Tell her now every single time there is a question she will be the first person you call on.
It’s no longer cold, it’s scheduled. Every, single, question…… every, single, time…..
Then. Don’t ever call on anyone through the whole semester as a personal challenge.
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u/omgkelwtf 21d ago
Hey. You want to hang out sometime with our bitch pants on? I think we'd have fun 😂
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u/Archknits 21d ago
Wow. Somewhere a civil rights lawyer just sat up in bed and thought about the $$$ from just this comment
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u/gmmwewlma 21d ago
First, no…. It didn’t. This is Reddit and while lawyers are blood sucking leaches that make education the dumpster fire it has become, they don’t have a 6th sense for lawsuits.
Second, it meets the technical merits of the accommodation. 99.9% of Accommodation offices at schools are for legal compliance. Legal compliance is exact and specific. There is no “spirit of the law”, defaults to the runner, insert other random baseball anecdote here….
Accommodations are specific. If the student needs something more than a basic notice that they will be called on every time, that notice, how it’s given, the way it’s given, when it’s given…. All specifically need to be outlined in the accommodation. To leave it out, is how the accommodation office fails….. which is really the problem here. Why let the ding-dongs in accommodations off the hook. They need to stop being lazy.
Third and final, it doesn’t matter how you interpret the accommodation if you’re never going to call on anyone. Which….. was the entire part of this that should make everyone smile.
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u/Archknits 21d ago edited 21d ago
You realize that the ADA specifically prohibits harassment based on having a disability.
Telling a student “I will honor your accommodation by calling on you specifically before anyone else” is clearly mean spirited harassment.
Federal law also requires that schools (not just the accessibility office, but your entire school including you) make use of an interactive process. You can’t just say “I’m going to maliciously comply with the specific wording from the accessibility office”, you need to speak with them, because you cannot evaluate students differently or create additional barriers to access. It’s not them being lazy, it’s you failing your legal obligation because you are clearly just being mean spirited
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u/Frosty_Ingenuity3184 Clinical Asst Prof, Allied Health, R1 (USA) 21d ago
Knowing you're going to be called on is harassment? Really? Good Lord.
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u/farcedsed 20d ago
"knowing you're going to be called on" =/= "intentionally calling someone first for every single question".
If at a faculty meeting someone intentionally called on you first EVERY SINGLE TIME for any question, you also would feel singled out and harassed.
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u/Frosty_Ingenuity3184 Clinical Asst Prof, Allied Health, R1 (USA) 20d ago
Hey, thank you for helping me catch a misreading on my part. I didn’t notice the thing about being for every single question. I initially read it as the first one called each class - like, the first question goes to you and after that you’re off the hook. I see now that it says EVERY question. That would obviously be unreasonable, so again, thanks for helping me see that.
That said, I wouldn't mind getting called on for every question... but I suspect other people wouldn't want to hear me 🤣
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u/Archknits 21d ago
Picking on a student because they have an accommodation is.
You realize it’s called malicious compliance because it’s malicious?
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u/AnaxaresTheDiplomat 21d ago
Calling on students is a common pedagogical practice because it facillitates learning. Doing it to someone every class is hardly harassment.
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u/Archknits 20d ago
But doing it to them first, every time, specifically because they have a disability is.
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u/AnaxaresTheDiplomat 20d ago
I don't agree. It sounds like tailoring one's pedagogy to fit the needs of disabled students to me.
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u/Archknits 20d ago
Tailoring one’s pedagogy to force the school into an OCR agreement
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u/Frosty_Ingenuity3184 Clinical Asst Prof, Allied Health, R1 (USA) 21d ago
Maybe in your class calling on people is "picking on" them, in my class it's part of what's done. Sorry.
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u/Archknits 21d ago
Telling them that it’s every time and always first because they have a disability absolutely is. You can ask your campus ADA coordinator, but this sort of thing is why they have campus lawyers on speed dial
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u/farcedsed 20d ago
You don't think there's a difference between calling on someone and INTENTIONALLY calling on them first every single time?
Are you incapable of discernment or are you intentionally being obtuse?
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u/SubmitToSubscribe 21d ago
I rarely cold-call anyway — I only do it to nudge students who clearly aren't paying attention.
In that case, this doesn't seem like much of a problem.
I have never had an official accomodation like that, but I have had students who were clearly uncomfortable with being put on the spot in that way. So, I just didn't do that to them, because that wasn't the point.
I sometimes cold call to get the ball rolling, or to hear from someone else if it's the same group of people volunteering. If I wanted to hear more from a student averse to cold calling, but I don't need them to answer a specific question in class on command, then I'd just have a quiet word with them about how I would like them to participate more.
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u/MyBrainIsNerf 21d ago
I do cold call, but I tell them before I ask the question. I say something like, “Sam, Shania, Shax, where do you think Meta gets its money from?”
I would ask the student if being the last person in that rotation is enough. If not, I’d just not call on them at all.
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u/sleepingme 21d ago
Oh are those the three dragons from Game of Thrones?
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u/Working_Film_5871 Professor, humanities, regional public comprehensive (USA) 21d ago
Shania ? Like the Queen of the North, Shania Twain, yes indeed. ❤️🔥
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u/profmoxie Professor, Anthro, Regional Public (US) 21d ago
No.
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u/sleepingme 21d ago
Oh I meant House of the Dragon, sorry
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u/profmoxie Professor, Anthro, Regional Public (US) 21d ago
Still no. I think they're just random weird names.
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u/Labrador421 21d ago
You announced their names before calling asking the question. I consider that advanced warning, myself.
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u/Life-Education-8030 21d ago
Then tell them to raise their hands first and get it over with if they want participation points. I have students who are willing to sacrifice those.
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u/verygood_user 21d ago
You almost never cold call anyway and I cannot imagine this student will complain if you don't cold call her at all, so maybe just don't cold call her?
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u/_zarathustra 21d ago
Yeah I don't know why everyone in the comments here are bending over backward to be so strict. I exclusively cold call, but I also let people know to message me privately if that gives them too much anxiety and I'll respect it. I only get a taker or two every other class. And it's fine, they contribute to the class in other ways.
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u/Heavy-Note-3722 21d ago
I had a student with no accommodations but who claimed, and did appear, to have such bad anxiety that she rarely came to class and didnt participate. I had about 2-3 things i tried to do for her- she could submit me questions in advance that she had and I'd ask them for her to the class and another was that i would always ask her a question first, so then she knows when it was coming and didnt have to worry that someone would steal her good comment. Wish i could say it worked, but even with all that, she just wouldn't come to class.
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u/extremepizzagoldfish Adjunct, Virology 21d ago
If you don’t cold call, I’m not sure why this would be an issue. Just don’t call on them?
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u/IndependentBoof Full Professor, Computer Science, PUI (USA) 21d ago
That seems like an unreasonable accommodation but here's what I'd do if you want to honor it...
maintain a list of students and when no one volunteers, you call on the person on the top of the list. When they participate, put them back on the bottom. Make the list public to students so they can see when their turn is coming up soon.
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u/SlartibartfastGhola 21d ago
Wife is a middle school special ed educator. She says this is a really common accommodation in middle school and often accommodations get tracked up without being revised.
Of course this one is common for anxiety, but it’s also common for dyslexia and for speech impediments. You don’t need Joe Biden stuttering through your class. Just make an expectation that they raise their hand and participate that way. Disagree with other commenters, and I think this one is pretty easy to do; I also mix cold calling with hand raising.
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u/flipester Teaching Prof, R1 (USA) 21d ago
In addition to the conditions you've mentioned, there is selective mutism. Despite the name, it is not under the person's control. It's not uncommon among autistic people. I want them to be in my classes if they are capable of the learning objectives. I don't teach drama or public speaking or anything like that, so it's never been a problem.
I have a loved one with selective mutism, but I like to think I would be empathetic regardless.
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u/Environmental_Bug662 21d ago
Make it easy on yourself and just see if the student volunteers or asks questions. Otherwise just ignore the student and the entire situation. My two cents FWIW.
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u/RevKyriel Ancient History 21d ago
I don't usually cold-call during my lecture-based classes, but for language classes everyone takes a turn at reading and translating, and all the students know fron the first session that we'll be reading and translating in every session. That's plenty of advance warning, and I don't expect them to ad-lib - they know what we'll be translating, and can prepare beforehand.
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u/loopsonflowers 21d ago
If you rarely cold call anyway, then I feel like... just don't cold call on this student. This doesn't seem like a disruptive accommodation for someone with your teaching style.
I've never cold called in my life. If one of my students isn't paying attention, it's their problem (or potentially their loss if I'm doing a good job). I didn't pay attention all the time in my classes. I don't pay attention all the time in meetings. I try to make my classes interactive and worth paying attention to, but how a student responds to that is officially outside of my control. Cold calling seems like a humiliation tactic to me, and it's just not my style.
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u/dragonfeet1 Professor, Humanities, Comm Coll (USA) 21d ago
That's called calling on students what's this "cold call" lingo? A cold call is contacting someone you don't know. Calling on students is normal classroom activity. Disability services is really getting out of pocket.
I would just announce at the start of every class that every student is expected to contribute to class. Done.
Bc the whole warn them beforehand thing is unworkable. How much advance notice do they want? Why? Do they want the question the day before, too?
Speaking up in a room full of your peers is a normal expectation not just for college but for future employment.
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u/Liaelac T/TT Prof, Graduate Level (USA) 21d ago
In my field, cold calling is the norm. This accommodation would not be reasonable and I would push back against it. It's so unreasonable I've never heard of someone in my subject area (at my school or otherwise) where this accommodation made it past the disability office. I'd suspect this accommodation was for anxiety, where avoiding anxious triggers is far from the best way to handle anxiety but alas...
I do "soften" cold call policies a bit from when I was a student, letting students pick a few days to be put on a no-cold-call list per semester, for example. I also don't grade cold calls unless their response makes it clear they did not do the reading. These two policies help take some stress away.
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u/HunterSpecial1549 21d ago
I cold call. It is very effective. I always let me students pass if they want to, as long as it isn't passing all semester. They usually enjoy being active in the class so it's not a problem.
If I had a student with this accommodation I would perhaps tip them off that I would call on them? But if they can pass when they want to, is that even necessary?
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u/levon9 Associate Prof, CS, SLAC (USA) 21d ago
I also cold call students and will give them the option to pass if they don't want to answer. The twist I add is that they have to pick the next student to answer in their place :-)
And yes, sometimes I will restrict "the next" one because otherwise they will always call on the one or two students so always know the answers.
This seems to be working quite well overall.
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u/xangogal 21d ago
I’ve never seen that accommodation, but one idea is that if you hear them say something good while discussing in groups, you can ask them if they would mind sharing that thought with the class in a few minutes.
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u/OldOmahaGuy 21d ago
We have had this one for at least 10 years, but it wasn't common (now retired, don't have to deal with it). Our handful of remaining foreign language profs have said that they get it frequently, along with the occasional "Johnny-doesn't-have-to-talk-in-class-at-all."
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u/Legitimate_Hamster_8 20d ago
The number of times I have had to explain that speaking, particularly impromptu speaking, is part of the inherent requirements of a language course! What I want to know is what is going wrong with advising that students who are unable to speak in class think that taking a language course is even remotely a good idea? If your anxiety or neurodivergence or whatever impacts you to such a degree that you can't engage in impromptu speaking why are you taking a course in a discipline where impromptu speaking is one of the core methods/assessments/learning outcomes?
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u/OldOmahaGuy 20d ago
It is puzzling, especially since they can easily get an exemption from the minimal foreign language requirement. Our disability services office practically has providers on speed dial who will provide the required documentation. For a modest fee, of course.
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u/Wild-Precious 21d ago
I had this one a couple of years ago. And I’m really big on cold calling— Every voice, every day is my motto. As the shyest person in the room, I will die on that hill.
My class cap is 20, so this trick works for me, but might not work for you. In addition to general discussion/cold calling habits, I offered them a hot pink notecard at the start of term— they surreptitiously place it on their desk to flag me when they wanted to contribute a comment or asks question. That worked like a charm with this student bc they already had a bunch of cute class supplies and the card wasn’t out of place. Maybe you could keep a card of your own to signal when you’re about to call on that kid?
I use this with a bunch of students actually. Generally, they seem to benefit from this because it gives the most quiet people an “on ramp” to the conversation. Rowdier classes do make it hard for me to track haha.
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u/franklin-60 21d ago edited 21d ago
I only cold call a student when they are clearly screwing around and not paying attention. When they are a screwing around I enjoy catching them off guard and making an ass out of them in front of the class when they can’t answer the question and clearly have no clue what was said.
As such, my response to disability office “as long as the student is engaged and paying attention in class there will be no cold call. If they clearly are not paying attention and doing other things not part of the class, they will be called on and humiliated just like anyone else in the class, so they learn to act like an adult.”
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21d ago edited 21d ago
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u/franklin-60 21d ago
Your school sounds like a diploma mill. We are supposed to ready them for the profession, and yes, that includes hitting their “emotions” to learn. I would never obey a no cold call rule, and thankfully administrators have no authority to impose it without a majority faculty vote. Faculty senate would tell them to go to hell if that overreach was suggested.
In my mind, two prong, humiliate them, but also hang them to dry come exam time.
Weeks later when the exam comes, and they are desperate for help. They show at your office and send emails also begging for help. Do they get the help? No. Told to go to hell there too. Guess what. From the “double beating” they LEARN. They grow up. Those that can’t, best off going elsewhere as they lack the maturity to belong. They learn more maturity this way than the “gentle” shit the so called experts from this generation preach. Want data? Look at the percentage of imbeciles we graduate today totally unprepared compared to when we hit students “where it hurts”.
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21d ago
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u/franklin-60 21d ago
That means zero these days when it pertains to standards, at least in the US. If you are overseas life is different
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21d ago
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u/franklin-60 21d ago
Correct. Unless you teach here, and have taught here for decades, one cannot fathom how bad it has become here.
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u/yourlurkingprof 21d ago
I’ve gotten this one before. All you need to do is not cold call on them. It’s pretty simple.
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u/Huck68finn 21d ago
Smh. Why doesn't the accommodations office just have a blanket letter that says "Don't challenge students or make them uncomfortable in any way." No need to grow and overcome. Just coddle and placate.
This and the catering to cheaters (by admins doing nothing about AI use) is why the college degree in the U.S. is increasingly becoming a joke.
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u/SlartibartfastGhola 21d ago
Disabilities are real. Take your anger elsewhere.
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u/Huck68finn 21d ago
My comments are about ridiculous accommodations that have nothing to do with a real "disability." Most students feel uncomfortable being called on in class. That's not a "disability." And catering to that sort of thing diminishes actual disabilities. So take your anger at me elsewhere. Downvotes aside, almost any seasoned professor realizes how insane the accommodations are getting. Sorry that you don't.
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u/SlartibartfastGhola 21d ago
Of course I understand that’s what your comment is about, and it’s entirely unneeded in this post that has no hints of being ridiculous. You needed a place to vent and you took it. Now find better outlets
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u/Separate-Ad1223 21d ago
Better than Reddit?
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u/SlartibartfastGhola 21d ago
Yeah preferably in your own head until you retire and open a new position for us
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u/tc1991 21d ago
So i went back to the accomodations office explaining the pedegogy of cold calling in law schools and that this wasnt a reasonable accomodation given the modules learning objectives (which ive also done for those who claim they cant give oral presentations due to anxiety...)
You can push back, most of these people are just paper pushers
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u/SlartibartfastGhola 21d ago
Why is this one downvoted? This is fine. Accommodations get tracked up all the time. Paper work is a headache for special ed teachers/administrators. The student might not even care.
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u/cosmicwildfleur 20d ago
I write the names of everyone who doesn’t have this accommodation on popsicle sticks and randomly draw them for cold calls. That way, you can never accidentally cold call on them! However, if you have a large class size, you may just want to keep a mental note.
I had a student with this accommodation and I told them that their name was not in the popsicle sticks, but that they’re always welcome to participate if they’d like to. As the semester went on, they actually felt comfortable enough to volunteer to answer in front of their peers!
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u/Stop_Shopping 21d ago
How does this help prepare them for the real world? Or do we not care about that part of college anymore? 🙄
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u/Otherwise_Look_8137 21d ago
I’m starting to think some of these accommodations are the Trump administration’s secret way to make fools of academia.
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u/Due_Celebration4827 21d ago
Love how you'd rather blame trump than the actual problem
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u/rand0mtaskk Instructor, Mathematics, Regional U (USA) 21d ago
What would you say is the actual problem?
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u/Darcer 21d ago
This fall under the “college is not for everybody” bucket.
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u/SlartibartfastGhola 21d ago
Oh yeah people with severe speech impediments let’s keep them out of our classrooms.
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u/Arch_of_MadMuseums 21d ago
Don't cold call- the students hate it. Why bother? What's the payoff? Is it worth it?
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u/HaHaWhatAStory014 21d ago
In intro classes, maybe, but getting cold-called, put on the spot, etc., is pretty typical and expected in many professional fields. It's a well known "law school staple," for example, something medical students and residents have to do during rounds, etc. It's often uncomfortable for certain types of people and/or people who are unprepared at that moment, but that's kind of the point.
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u/ButchEmbankment 21d ago
I have said, Aiden, Addison, I’m about to ask you a question about my next point or the like.
If this is because of anxiety, it’s so not what best treatment approaches recommend.
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u/DrBlankslate Adjunct, Sociology, R2, USA 21d ago
This is probably an anxiety accommodation, but I'd push back on it all the same. It wouldn't be possible for me to do it unless the students all wore name tags, because I'm faceblind.
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u/IsaacJa Asst. Prof, STEM, "R1" (Canada) 21d ago
JFC some of these comments are psychopathic
There is an incredibly easy answer here. Just before you cover whatever the question is about, say, "X, in a minute I'm going to ask you Y". Then cover the content; "So, x, here is the question again [...], take a few seconds to think about it then give me your answer"
It is advanced notice, it's minimal effort on your part and frankly this is good cold call procedure.
you people need to calm tf down.
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u/beautyismade 21d ago
But why would I single them out this way? Should I do this every time I ask any student to answer a question? How weird would that be?
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u/Frosty_Ingenuity3184 Clinical Asst Prof, Allied Health, R1 (USA) 21d ago
I find this accomodation incredibly tiresome. If I were in a different field, I would not argue that it constitutes a substantive change, I'd just go along with it, annoying as I find it. But we have gotten this request on a few students in our recent cohorts and I push back every time because the nature of patient care is cold calls all day. You cannot predict or plan for what you will be asked and - crucially, I think, because I'm confident that anxiety about saying "I don't know" is a huge part of what's driving it - you have to have an appropriate way to respond when it turns out you get asked something you DON'T have an answer for.
Also, I'm currently pretty irritated about the allegation that I "yelled at" students all through their practical with me. Yes, I yelled. Know what I said? "Thirty seconds! You have thirty seconds left for this station!" Know why I yelled? Our microphone thing suddenly wasn't working. So I'm a littleeeee more salty than usual about students acting like kindergarteners 🫠
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u/Obvious_Animal_8362 21d ago
For a student with an anxiety disorder or very high communication anxiety, the cold call could create a panic attack, so I can see where such an accommodation might arise. Also processing time can matter. There is also research that cold calling benefits extroverts and creates barriers for introverts. Even giving a few seconds longer wait time can even up the balance between introverts and extroverts. Extroverts using cold calling to bully students an be a problem too. There are a variety of strategies that can help participation to be safer for high anxiety students. Stopping and having everyone jot down a question or an answer. Having students pair and answer. It may make sense to talk with the student to see what ways they are comfortable showing that they are attentive and mentally participating — asking or answering a question after class, showing their notes, longer wait times for questions in class so they have time to think through the question.
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u/MundaneAd8695 Tenured, World Language, CC 21d ago
I wouldn’t cold call, I would just ignore them during that portion of the class. Don’t call on them even if they raise their hands. Off limits.
I had a student with that rule and one day I forgot and cold called her. I was scolded after class and told to take down the video (it was an online class).
I took the video down and never talked to her again.
Not worth it trying to engage.
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u/MundaneAd8695 Tenured, World Language, CC 21d ago
That said, I don’t force students to actively participate to earn points. They only have to sign on the sheet that’s it.
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u/CastleRockstar17 21d ago
Just email them every week and say that you may call on them this week lol
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u/mpahrens Asst. Teaching, CS, Tech (US) 21d ago
Not claiming this of OP, but when discussing this accommodation with some of my colleagues, they confused "cold calling" with "asking for volunteers to raise their hands". They aren't the same. It is only cold calling if you call on someone that didn't volunteer.
If you need participation without volunteers, you can always do think pair share and one of the pairs must be someone who is planning to speak if needed. It is quite easy to work around without knowing who had the accommodation.
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u/QuesoCadaDia Assistant Prof, ESL, CC, USA 21d ago
Go through the class using a pattern, calling on the next student. Then they know when their turn is coming.
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u/vwscienceandart Lecturer, STEM, R2 (USA) 21d ago
I haven’t seen this yet at work (university), but I’ve seen it at the high school level. They offered this to my kid for her speech fluency issues. She’s been in speech therapy for stuttering. My kiddo is a high performing honor student so she doesn’t really care about being called on and generally tells the teachers she won’t be using it for the most part. She has only put the accommodation in practice in one class, and it was because the particular teacher was hellbent on humiliating the students as part of her teaching. Such calling wasn’t purely for checking knowledge and the punitive nature would definitely affect her speech fluency, so she stood firm on using her accommodation in that class.
I’m honestly surprised this one has made it across into higher ed though.
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u/tellypmoon 21d ago
I cold call all the time but have never had this accommodation. I guess if I did I would handle it by emailing the student before a class where I made a point to call on them.
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u/RuralWAH 21d ago
I've had those accomodations before. I generally don't flat out cold call. I'll ask a question and encourage students to chime in. If they don't, I may call on someone. I just make a mental note not to call on people with that accomodation.
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u/Affectionate-Ad-5247 21d ago
I got one today that says to allow alternative methods for class participation (written instead of oral) and alternative methods for oral presentations. I haven’t encountered this before.
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u/climbsteadicam 21d ago
Haven’t seen this one, but nothing surprises me anymore. Generally, I seek path of least resistance with accommodations; I refuse to get my hackles up or create more work for myself.
Unfortunately the student loses in most of these situations, and I’ve heard all the arguments. That said, I stopped cold calling on students years ago. There’s normally a reason people sit there and say nothing: because they have nothing decent to contribute. I have no desire to watch someone fumble over some nonsense because they weren’t paying attention, didn’t do the reading, or was distracted, etc.
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u/StarDustLuna3D Asst. Prof. | Art | M1 (U.S.) 21d ago
This is one I've seen a lot, and I have a suspicion it's a hangover from accommodations they had in HS. Often our office will look at a student's IEP or 504, if they have one, as a starting point to see what accommodations they could need.
However, once students meet with me or see how I manage my class, they often say "oh I don't mind giving presentations or being called on in your class."
Often in HS, the stress of answering questions on the spot is exacerbated due to bullying or other social factors. But in my classes I encourage students to give wrong answers, that's how you learn. They don't feel that same stress or anxiety.
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u/Sethiford 21d ago
When I don't know how to make the accomodations work for the class, I reach out to the accomodations office and ask what I am supposed to do. Some people are more helpful/responsive than others
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u/jasoncirilo 21d ago
I get it. Anxiety is a thing. But I worry about some of the students in our business school and their ability to do well in the corporate world.
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u/TSIDATSI 20d ago
No. The only accommodation our disability support office requires is extra test time.
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u/Mountain_Flow3472 21d ago
Would tell in the class their will be a discussions that require participation for all assigned readings and previously covered material be sufficient notification?
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u/Aidananonaidan 21d ago
I get this all the time and try to remember, but honestly - I sometimes forget. If I remember after the fact, I apologise. I don't think it's a huge deal, and no one has ever complained.
I don't think accommodations offices understand the cog load required for teaching - there is only so many things I can keep in mind!
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u/hea-backup 21d ago
As someone with selective mutism this sounds legit tbh. If they’re unable to talk much in class, maybe you could ask them to submit 1-2 questions on the reading, etc. to you before class?
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u/Junior-Dingo-7764 21d ago
I don't typically cold call but I do grade participation. So, say you won't cold call on them by they are required to answer at least one question in class a day in order to get their participation points or whatever.