Silence will fall

Awkward silence doesn't really bother me. I can usually wait through minutes of baffled looks, stumped expressions, and general slacker stances. But this semester has been excruciatingly quiet. I'll ask a question and there's crickets. A few students will glance through the reading to find the answer, but still, nothing.

I've spent the last weeks trying to figure out where the silence is coming from. Are they not reading? Are they shy? Do my questions make absolutely no sense?

So after several failed attempts at participation in the lecture portion of class, my students went to work on their group activity. I went around the room and checked off their readings (they were required to annotate or take critical notes on the reading), and it became clear that they did in fact read the material. Most took notes that had the answers to the questions I was asking.

I hate threatening quizzes or calling on random students, but I'm to the point where I need to do something, anything, to get them to speak up. Maybe I just need to readjust my expectations and call on people. I understand being shy or stressed out by a teacher calling on you, but it's probably just going to have to happen.