1. This holds the students accountable for the information so it keeps the children on task and focused on the lesson material due to the fact that their name could be called at random.

 2. She will give those students she knows needing the extra time a heads up that way it brings their anxiety levels down so they can think about what they are going to say when they answer.

 3. I think this strategy could also be used for a pop quiz or test review questions vs. just during a lesson.

This is a great tool to make sure every students name is called upon, rather than tools like pulling popscile sticks due to not everyones name being calls. Also using the names more than once in the stack is nice, because then they will make sure they are paying attention. 

The use of these cards and the students' names is great. The students can sometimes feel left out if they are not called or feel like the teacher is picking on them if they are called on too much, so this is a great way to eliminate both. This also makes the students stay engaged during the whole lesson because their name could be called more than once and they can not zone out. I also like how she pointed out this gives the student a little bit of time to think about an answer or the lesson before being called on, which does decrease the anxiety of being called on in front of their peers.

Hi Tammy, I've been meaning to say this to you for two years now. When I saw your video in the summer of 2014, I decided to try the card-o-matic for my 2014-2015 5th grade class. I'm so happy that I did that! That ring of cards stayed on my left pinky finger all day long and became a part of our minute-by-minute whole group instructional routine for all subjects. I even put a few students names in there more than once if I felt it was necessary to keep them more engaged and I threw in a few "teacher choice" cards with stickers all over them too. I made a big deal, or scene, when I flipped to a "teacher choice" card and those 5th graders ate it up! I made sure to shuffle the cards in front of the class each Monday and Wednesday so the students knew it was truly random. I'm going on my 2nd year as an instructional coach. I served three schools last year and am at home at just one school this year. This card-o-matic is still something I make to go into many classrooms when I model for or co-teach with a teacher. Most teachers seems to like it better than random sticks. Thank you for sharing this idea! Much appreciated.

I really like this idea and how the students are in there twice as well as shuffling them! Great tip!