Fellow teachers know that listening to students is all part of being an effective educator, but even the best among us miss things. Some, having embarked on the noble quest of becoming better teachers, suffer paralysis by analysis. They become so bogged down with reflection, test score interpretation, and the education of each and every student, that they overlook some of our most fundamental practices.
Homework overload is a problem
Students are doing less and less in-school work on an almost yearly basis. Part of this is due to the advances in technology, and part of it is due to a softer education system. Yet students are still too often overloaded with homework.
Most schools have suitable scheduling systems that allocate times during which teachers can assign homework. This is meant to prevent problems like too much over the weekend and too little during the week, as well as multiple teachers issuing assignments on the same night.
But the system is fallible, and overload still occurs. Teachers might run out of time and assign a planned in-class assignment as homework. Substitutes fail to follow directions, forcing breaks from the set schedule. Unexpected school closures wreak havoc. And looming exams can lead even the most organized teachers to ignore allocations.
Whatever the reason, there are consequences, and the students suffer. When pupils find themselves with too much homework, many of them turn to essay writing services to get their work done. According to the EduGeeksClub, the term “essay writing services” provides over 31 million hits on Google, suggesting that a massive amount of students resort to such services in order to get through the year.
So listen to your students and be attentive when they say they can’t complete all their homework on time.
Take what students say at face value, but leave room for other interpretations
Students do not know what is best for them. Many times, what they say is very self-serving. As an adult, you know and understand this, which is why some teachers spend more time trying to interpret what is said rather than taking it at face value. A better approach is to do both.
Example: Jimmy is sick of doing ratio exercises. Jimmy says this is because he knows all about ratios and is simply redoing what he already knows. He complains that his homework is a waste of time and that he wants to move onto something else.
Face value: Jimmy has learned all he needs to know about ratios and is ready to move on to something else.
Possible interpretations: 1. Jimmy thinks he understands it when he doesn’t; 2. Jimmy is struggling with ratios and wants to move on in order to avoid it; 3. Jimmy is having trouble completing his homework and is trying to excuse himself; 4. Jimmy is making an excuse for rushing his homework so that he can claim his poor scores are a result of rushing and anger that he is still doing ratios.
Solution: Even if he is sick of doing ratios because he knows it all, you cannot move onto another subject yet because the rest of the class is still learning them. So take what he says at face value and give him homework that is slightly more difficult to see how he does. If it challenges him but he completes it, he understands the concepts. But if he struggles a little too much, then another interpretation might be right.
Some students want to be successful and some do not
Consider students’ motivations. Do not treat everything they say as an excuse or a way to shirk work. It’s not always that simple. But remember, too, that sometimes it is. Some students really don’t care about school.
Example: Faced with a writing assignment meant to test both content knowledge and critical thinking, Kelly, who is known to be creative, asks to write a narrative essay about her dream job; and Bobby, often concerned about grades, opts for an argumentative essay on a concept that he has little hope of grasping.
Consider their likely motivations.
Kelly: A dream job is a reverie. She hopes to achieve it some day, but a high score is immaterial. Her goal is to start a project that allows her to be creative.
Bobby: His essay is less about the subject, and more about getting a high score. He thinks his chosen topic will increase his chances.
Solution: The motivation behind each student’s choice reveals that they’re both setting themselves up to fail. Kelly is only looking for a way to be creative, and if you understand this, you may be able to talk her into completing an essay that allows her to both be creative and demonstrate the skills the assignment is meant to test.
Bobby doesn’t have the requisite background knowledge to write about his chosen topic. Knowing this, you might be able to guide him to a more appropriate topic and reassure him that it will actually increase the likelihood that he earns a good grade.
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Students will often tell you what academic support they need, but that’s only one part of the puzzle. You also need to undertake your own analysis using the standard testing and evaluation tools you learned in your training.
Take what students say at face value, but interpret it, too. Consider their motivations and understand that, if you let them down, they’re the ones who suffer.
Karen Dikson is a teacher and a creative writer from New Jersey. Her works have been published on Huffington Post and other educational resources. She loves to help her students achieve their goals. Connect with Karen on Twitter: @KarenDikson.