Why I Have Two Ears and One Mouth: A Student’s View on Cold Calling

By Derek Pezo

I was in high school when I truly realized my teachers had their own jobs to do. They weren’t here just to give us tests that skyrocketed anxiety, they implement agendas that need to be moved along. Teachers have to hit their teaching quotas, and keep the flow of the classroom. And to hit these quotas, sometimes they implement nail-biting methods that seem to always strike fear into quieter students.

Cold calling is a practice every student is familiar with, and I’d argue almost everyone has fallen victim to it. For those on the silent side, being randomly chosen to speak when your hand wasn’t raised can make them wish they never existed. But the classroom must go on, and so that unfortunate student must say something on the spot to benefit the discussion.

I get why instructors utilize cold calling in their teaching methods, whether it’s excessive or rarely used. But the question of cold calling is a deep trench. Some anxiously shudder at the mere mention, while others couldn’t care less. The pros and cons are definitely valid in their own respects, but let’s paint a picture about cold calling from my perspective as a student. Typically, I have no problem speaking in class. While I was a lot more reserved in my youth, my adult years in undergraduate helped me become confident in my own voice and opinions. Should my instructor choose to randomly call on me or not, I’m fairly confident I can add something productive to the conversation at hand (But not always). Shiladitya Sen’s previous blog mentioned how cold calling can truly skyrocket nervous feelings in students, and it’s easy to see why. Yet while I agree cold calling creates unease, I have other philosophies that alienate me from this type of instruction.

The classroom is a learning environment, a place for conversation. Conversation is a collaborative effort, best done with input from different voices. But this doesn’t mean that every student must include something. There’s an ancient quote I’ve associated with for most of my years of undergraduate. “We have two ears and one mouth, so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.” Basically, I interpret this as speaking when I need to say something that I wholeheartedly know can add to the topic at hand. Not talking just to talk. And certainly not saying something just because I was cold called on. Even though I’m comfortable speaking, I know it’s ultimately not my responsibility. Sometimes I just like to sit back and listen to what others have to say, especially if it’s a subject I’m unfamiliar with. After all, I do have more ears than mouths.

By letting others lead conversations, I’m able to see different perspectives that I wouldn’t understand if I decided to talk. My method of learning and gauging the room helps me to not only listen to my peers, but prevents me from saying something just for the sake of it. We’re always pretty quick to share our voices as students, sometimes in topics we’re not well-versed in. The classroom is a safe place to have those moments of unawareness, yet cold calling can make us less motivated to learn. Simply put, I don’t mind being cold called on, but would prefer not to if I truly have nothing I want to add. Now I’m not suggesting for my fellow students to never have an opinion and to never share their thoughts. Surely that would make for a pretty boring discussion. This is based on the mindset I take to the classroom, and how cold calling can inhibit what works for me.

I think what most of us students don’t always realize is that you will not have a solid opinion on everything. Does that mean hold your tongue and never speak? Definitely not. Shying students away from education and curiosity is hardly the point. If we’re not well literate in the topic at hand, we shouldn’t think we’re making fools of ourselves by choosing not to contribute something. Feeling obligated to speak is solely up to the student. Choosing to be the silent one in the class doesn’t necessarily make us any less interested, it’s more of exercising our rights as adults. But there are rights that professors have as well.

For instructors who swear by cold calling, or want to implement it more in their teaching, there’s one aspect they need to remember: reading the room. Being in school for so many years, I’ve been in various classroom environments. In some classes, everyone is eager to speak, with never a dull moment in the conversation. There’s a light-hearted but serious feeling in the air, and students effortlessly participate. Relying on cold calling seems irrelevant when most of the room is always willing to talk. But other classes are on the opposite side of lively. People are mostly waiting for the next brave soul to break the awkward silence. Whether the topic at hand is densely complicated, or students are just too unmotivated to speak, no one adds any input to the conversation. In this case, cold calling seems to be the only option to not only keep things moving, but to make sure the class stays attentive. As students have the right to speak or remain silent, professors also have the right to orchestrate the class they see best fit. And if that means implementing cold calling in their teaching, then so be it. But as a student, my only humble suggestion for instructors is to read their classroom. Whether they are always willing to speak or are silently introverted, recognizing the underlying feeling of their students can help instructors accordingly.

Cold calling is effective in not only raising anxiety, but inhibiting the freedom we as students possess in the class. Then again, it’s understandable, every instructor implements what works best for their teaching styles. Their quotas must proceed, hopefully not at the expense of anyone’s fear of getting called on.

To any students nervous about speaking in class with or without cold calling, remember to look in the mirror and count how many ears and mouths you have. But also remember, you still have a mouth. The choice is yours, and only yours to use it.