As an introvert, I often struggle to take part in class discussions or ask questions because of my fear of being judged by my peers.

I think there needs to be more support for introvert students. Being introvert should not be seen as an anomaly.

Since it can be hard for them to speak or clarify things in front of a crowd, introverts tend to just stay silent, which could make it difficult to understand study material.

Hence, I think that more teachers should consider alternative methods to answer students' questions. They could allow students to submit questions anonymously through an online platform to clarify their doubts without having to ask a question in public.

Teachers could also speak to their more introvert students to find out their level of comfort during class discussions, instead of just assuming that them not speaking out means that they are not interested in participating.

And teachers could pair more outgoing students with quieter ones in a buddy system. The more outgoing student could then help to answer for his quieter classmate and slowly help to ease him into participating in class.

These small, seemingly insignificant steps are needed to help make our classrooms a more tolerable and inclusive environment for students of all personality traits to flourish.

Crystal Yeo Sim Yuen