There are times I feel like my students are falling asleep in class, or their eyes have glazed over as I am speaking. I'm not always sure if they actually understood the content or they just don't care. Being an overly dramatic person, I usually start doing something crazy at this point to break their silence. Which could possibly be screaming like a 5-year-old for a lollipop, if that is the example I am using to relay a point I am teaching at the moment. When I stop to ask, "Does that make sense? Does anyone have questions? You guys understood it?" I am faced with more silence and nodding heads. 

I never know what to do next because I did go over the hard parts twice, I asked if they needed further explanations, essentially I've done my job. I need to push further. I probably need to focus on one student and ask him or her questions directly. I assume a more outgoing student would be the place to start because they wouldn't be afraid to provide an answer and then I can continue the discussion by following up with what they said. Questioning the students even when they have none is important because as a student I know how shy I was.

There were many times where I didn't raise my hand for fear that someone would realize that I am not invisible and they sky will fall if I give the wrong answer. I figure students in my class feel the same way but I want to push them to be confident in themselves, it's ok to give the wrong answer. It's ok to say that 2+2=5. If they don't ask me if they're right and if I don't ask them if they understood the content, I'll never know if I was an effective teacher or if I made any dent in their education.

Ask. Ask. ASK.