Set How They'll Answer

The steps

1. Teach the labels in one short briefing. Tell the class which formats you use and what each label asks of them. A minute is usually enough.
   Before every question, I'll say how we're answering it. 'Hands' means hands up. 'Cold call' means I choose, so hands stay down. 'Boards' means write it. 'Pairs' means tell your partner. If I haven't said yet, we're still thinking.
2. Choose the format as you plan each question. Match the format to the job the question is doing. A short, checkable answer suits boards. A question that needs a reason suits pairs. Cold call lets you hear one student's thinking in full, while hands up shows you who wants to offer. Add "everybody writes" once you want full sentences from everyone.
3. Say the label before the question, every time. Give the label, leave a beat, then ask the question:
   Cold call. Why does the poet repeat 'again'?
   The beat gives pens time to lift or hands time to settle.
4. Run the format exactly as usual. The label simply hands over to the routine you have already taught: think time for cold call, the timer for pairs, "show me" for boards.
5. Take answers through the named format only. When an answer is shouted out on a hands question, redirect it warmly and hold the format.
   Good thinking, but this one's hands. Put it up and I'll come to you.
6. Vary the formats across the lesson. A sequence might run boards, boards, cold call, pairs, hands. The variety keeps the class listening for each label and gives each question the kind of check it needs.

How you’ll know it’s working

• Pens lift at "boards" and hands settle at "cold call" before the question has even been asked.
• A tally of call-outs across ten questions falls week by week, often from double figures to one or two.
• Nobody asks "do we put our hands up?", because the label has already answered it.
• An observer at the back of the room could name the answering format of every question in the lesson from the label alone.

Weigh it up

Why it’s worth it

• Calling out fades without confrontation. Every question has a declared channel, so a shouted answer needs a three-word redirect rather than a behaviour conversation, and the tone of the room stays warm.
• Thinking time survives. Until the format opens, no answer can land, so nobody's thinking is cut short because a quicker classmate got the answer out first.
• It sharpens your planning. Choosing a format makes you decide what each question is for: a check on everyone, a rehearsal in pairs, or one student's reasoning heard in full. Questions without a clear job tend to get cut.
• Your existing routines get sharper. Boards questions begin with pens already up, pair discussions start within seconds, and being cold called feels expected because the label came first.
• It is nearly free. It costs two or three words in front of each question, needs no kit and no marking, and you can start in your next lesson.

The costs

• The consistency is yours to supply. Expect to forget the labels mid-lesson for the first week or two, and expect each lapse to invite the calling out back in.
• A label only means something once the format behind it has been taught. "Pairs" names nothing until partners have been assigned, and "boards" needs a working boards routine first.
• A fully channelled room can lose some of the eager energy that certain classes run on. If you value that buzz, give it a legitimate outlet such as Call & Response.