👋 Hello {{first name | reader…}} Jamie here!
In this edition of ⚗️DistillED, we’re exploring how to create inclusive thinking from every student through one of the most effective classroom strategies: Cold Calling.
📊 Quick Poll!
Before we begin, I’m curious how Cold Calling looks in your classroom right now. Be honest — your answer helps shape future editions of ⚗️DistillED.
What’s the hardest part of Cold Calling?
What is Cold Calling?
At its core, Cold Calling means asking a question to the whole class, giving everyone time to think, and then inviting a specific student to respond — whether or not they volunteered.
Doug Lemov, who popularised the approach in the awesome Teach Like a Champion, describes cold calling as an invitation to join the conversation, not a mechanism for catching students out. In other words, it’s a structured way to ensure that every student participates in the classroom’s thinking.
“A cold call is an invitation to a student to join a conversation. We want students to be constantly thinking and feel accountable. If we socialise them to think, they’ll be more likely to learn.” (2010)
Educator Tom Sherrington has written lots about this powerful strategy. He adds that in mature classrooms, students recognise that questions are for everyone. Cold calling becomes an ordinary part of learning: predictable, safe, and inclusive. Students know they cannot “sit out”, but they also know mistakes are normal and feedback is warm.
To maximise its effect, here are some dos and don’ts of the technique:
👍 What Cold Calling is:
A routine that signals this question is for all of us to think about.
A way to normalise whole-class cognitive engagement.
A means of distributing talk equitably across the room.
A chance to check for understanding in real time.
👎 What Cold Calling is not:
A “gotcha” technique.
Randomly firing questions at students with no thinking time.
Shaming or punishing inattention (“Ava, you were talking. What’s the answer?”)
A way to test individuals instead of responding to the whole class.
Think of it more of a routine than a questioning technique. Its potency lies not in the “call”, but in the conditions you create around it: clarity, wait time, predictability, and warmth. Let’s unpack the research a bit more.
Why is Cold Calling Effective?
Research shows that when teachers design routines that require every student to think, learning improves. Cold Calling is one of the simplest ways to achieve this because it ensures everyone prepares an answer, not just the volunteers. Cognitive scientists are clear: if students don’t think, they don’t learn. This aligns perfectly with Professor Dan Willingham’s famous line from Why Don’t Students Like School?:
“Students remember what they think about... Memory is the residue of thought”
Routines which pull thinking from long-term memory, increases the chance learning will stick. It means expecting participation from everyone and preventing “passive passengers”. Ultimately, Cold Calling is super powerful because:
It Boosts Attention: When students know anyone may be called after the question, everyone listens and thinks — not just the volunteer.
It Strengthens Retrieval: Cold Calling prompts students to pull knowledge into working memory, reinforcing retention and schema building.
It Builds Equity and Belonging: Quiet, anxious, or hesitant students are gently brought into the conversation so they feel that they belong.
It Normalises Mistakes: Phrases like “Not quite — what were you thinking?” turn errors into learning opportunities, helping students build confidence.
It Sharpens Decision-Making: Live responses reveal who is secure, who is unsure, and who needs support — enabling more precise, responsive teaching.
This graphic (inspired by Luke Tayler) shows how a simple change in question structure transforms whole-class thinking. When the teacher says “Finley, can you tell me what a metaphor is?” (name first), only Finley thinks — the rest of the class mentally opts out. But when the teacher asks “What is a metaphor? … [pause] … Finley?” (Question → Pause → Name), all students engage in the thinking first. Voilà!
A Graphic Representation of Timing in Cold Calling Inspired By Educator Luke Tayler
Tom Sherrington puts it plainly: “Cold calling as a routine is the most effective way to maximise thinking.” So, what does this actually look like in action and what are some concrete steps to take? Let’s have a look.
How do I Implement Cold Calling?
Before breaking Cold Calling into its core practices, it’s important to recognise that the strategy only reaches its full potential when it becomes a routine — a normal, inclusive, and reliable part of classroom dialogue. This means using Cold Calling consistently across lessons, always pairing it with clear wait time, predictable norms, and supporting techniques such as Turn & Talk, written rehearsal, mini-whiteboards, and responsive follow-up questions.
When students know what to expect, anxiety decreases and thinking increases. Cold Calling becomes a shared classroom habit: “Everyone thinking first… I’ll choose a few voices so we can check understanding before moving on.”
Here’s a practical six-part guide to using Cold Calling effectively in your classroom.
Step | Explanation | Example |
|---|---|---|
1. Front-Load the Norms
| Explain the rationale, rehearse routines, and communicate that the goal is thinking — not catching students out. Students should know the sequence: hands down, everyone thinks, teacher chooses. | “Hands down for this routine. Everyone thinks first, then I’ll choose someone to share. This helps all of us stay engaged.” |
2. Use “Question → Pause → Name”
| Ask the question to the whole class, give meaningful wait time (3–5 seconds or more for complex tasks), scan the room, then name the student. | “How does Lady Macbeth persuade Macbeth?… [pause, scan] … Amira?” |
3. Keep the Call Warm & Invitational
| Increase challenge through spacing, mixed question types, and prompts that require explanation, not recall alone. | “Explain why this example fits the rule—not just what the rule is.” |
4. Follow Up to Deepen Thinking
| Ask follow-up questions that push for clarity, justification, or extension. Cold Call is the beginning of thinking, not the end. | “Interesting. What’s your evidence?” “Say more about how those ideas connect.” |
5. Vary the Format
| Use paired talk, written rehearsal, pre-call, batched calls, or spin-off questions to boost confidence, reduce anxiety, and support richer thinking. | “Discuss with a partner first… Okay, Lucy, what did your pair think?” “Next I’m coming to Harry, then Asif, then Fin.” |
6. Troubleshoot and Support
| When students say “I don’t know”, use prompts to help them articulate partial knowledge. Normalise mistakes and guide students to reconstruct understanding. | Student: “I don’t know.” You: “What were you thinking? Start with the part you’re sure of.” Use Second Chance when you can. |
Cold Calling, done well, is one of the simplest and most impactful ways to make your lessons more inclusive, more rigorous, and more joyful. It invites everyone into the conversation, strengthens understanding through retrieval and helps us to teach more responsively.
At its heart, it is not a questioning technique — it is a thinking routine that tells every student “Your ideas matter here. We learn together.”
🙏 One Small Favour: If you enjoyed this edition, consider tapping the “share” or “like” button — it makes a huge difference. Alternatively, if you know a colleague who’d find this useful, forward this edition to their inbox!
Jamie
Free Resource Download
Cold Calling Explained One-Page Guide Free Download
This one-page guide breaks down the core principles of Cold Calling into a clear, practical format. It walks you through the what, why, and how of creating inclusive whole-class thinking, explains the cognitive science behind attention and retrieval, and offers ready-to-use strategies to help every student participate.
Cold Calling Scripts Free Download
This one-page resource distils the essential language of effective Cold Calling into a clear, classroom-ready format. Inside, you’ll find warm invitations, probing follow-up questions, culture-of-error phrases, and equity stems — everything you need to run Cold Calling with confidence, clarity, and inclusive thinking.
DistillED+ Checklist and Slideshow
This week’s ⚗️DistillED+ members get access to a Cold Calling CPD PowerPoint and a Printable Checklist PDF. Together, they unpack the what, why, and how of effective Cold Calling, modelling warm, inclusive routines like Question → Pause → Name, variations such as Pre-Call and Batched Calls, and practical strategies for handling uncertainty and distributing participation fairly.
If you’re a ⚗️DistillED+ member, scroll to the bottom of this post to access the exclusive download. You can also visit the DistillED+ Hub to explore the full library of member-only resources.
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