Talking ball

Sometimes I sound like a cracked record, constantly asking for hands up.. It's so archaic and outdated, I'm sure my great great grandfather used to ask hands up in his era as a teacher in the 1890s. It's also fairly ineffective because kids still call out. 

 I now use a soft foam ball to toss to kids who I choose to answer a question after getting the idea from the Canadian Aboriginal custom of using a talking stick. No stick: no talking. It's nice to throw that multicultural fact in when introducing the talking ball too.