Managing Taking Turns in the Classroom

I just love how enthusiastic little learners are to volunteer in the classroom! What I don't love is their waving and begging hands as these little learners indicate their willingness to help. And I find it even more difficult to see their disappointed faces when they are not chosen. To keep it fair and encourage even the shyest little learner to participate, I like to use systems in the classroom to manage taking turns.

For this system I bought some little white boxes from the cheap shop. I split the class into gender groups, but you could use the whole class or group the students according to reading groups etc. depending on your needs. Then I simply typed each little learner's name, cut to size and placed in the box. When a volunteer is needed in the classroom, simply choose the top name from the box and call their name. Then place that name at the bottom of the pile. Because I have two groups, I then place that box to the bottom, so I know which box I am choosing from next time (anyone else suffer from amnesia in the classroom at times?). To keep the suspense, I also like to include a colored paper at the beginning to mark when each child has had a turn. This way I can shuffle the names after one rotation (or a couple) and the little learners don't get to know the order.

This is just one of many systems I have used to keep those little faces smiling and the classroom running smoothly. Would love to hear how you manage turn taking in your classroom!