Sometimes in the middle of the year, especially in a year where we are grappling with the realities of teaching during a global pandemic, it’s hard to see the forest for the trees. As we move into the second half of this unprecedented school year, The Juice reached out to a group of students to ask what advice they would give to teachers. A big thank you to Keith, Lindsay, Eli*, Aiden, Ava, and Bruce for their thoughts.
Talking to students reminded us that teaching doesn’t always have to be complicated as we think it is. Here is some candid, thoughtful, and reassuring advice from students across the country.
When it comes to Creating a Healthy Learning Environment…
Do
Remember that students are humans, not robots!
- Keith, a junior attending virtual school, explained that his shortest class is 90 minutes. “I appreciate when teachers give us a break in the middle of class,” he said, “even if it’s just a 5 minute one. He added that because classes are so long he really appreciates it when teachers are okay with students eating a snack when they need to.
Make class something to look forward to!
- “It doesn’t hurt to be funny,” Lindsey, a current senior, added.
Create an environment where people aren’t afraid to make mistakes, ask questions, and take risks.
Trust students to figure things out on their own!
Be willing to explain things in different ways if students don’t understand.
Don’t
Don’t sweat the small stuff!
- “It is frustrating when teachers get mad at the class a lot for little things. It can ruin the learning environment,” said Keith.
When it comes to Teaching Style…
Do
Facilitate games during class.
- “Even if they’re cheesy,” Eli, a current freshman attending school in-person added.
Make classroom activities interactive.
Like what you’re doing.
- “We can tell when [teachers] like what they’re doing,” said Aiden, a junior, also attending school in-person.
Be invested in how students are doing.
- “Show that you care about us beyond a statistic in a book,” said Lindsey.
Be organized.
Connect with students.
- “Don’t stand up in front of a class without asking questions or asking students’ perspective,” suggests Ava, an 8th grader attending school in-person.
Understand that all students learn differently, so practice being flexible.
- For example, Bruce, a senior attending school in-person, described how he likes “when teachers give [students] the option to type up an assignment or write it by hand.” There are times when I prefer one written form over the other and I like having the choice,” he explained.
Provide extra resources for students to explore.
Don’t
Don’t teach only using lectures.
- “It’s hard for students to sit and listen for the whole class,” Aiden explained.
Don’t scream.
- “It doesn’t help,” said Aiden.
Don’t be hypocritical. Be consistent in what you say to students!
When it comes to Giving Feedback…
Do
Give specific and concrete feedback.
- “I like it when teachers point out what I need to improve on and give me actual ways to make those improvements,” said Keith.
- Specific feedback that you can tell the teacher really read what you wrote or looked at what you did. General feedback isn’t helpful (Aiden)
Provide feedback in a timely manner.
Make sure your feedback is balanced.
- It’s important for students to know what they’re doing well in addition to what they need to work on!
Don’t
Don’t assign points or give grades without any explanation!
- “It’s frustrating when I get points taken off of an assignment but then no explanation for why those points were deducted,” said Keith.
Don’t wait to give feedback for too long. Make sure you give feedback when it’s still relevant, so students have an opportunity to apply it.
- “The longer it takes to get feedback the less likely I am to want to follow up and revisit what I got wrong,” explained Bruce.
When it comes to Class Discussions…
Do
Facilitate thoughtfully.
- Several students talked about the importance of teachers being facilitators during discussion, speaking little, but making sure that no one student dominates the conversation. “I like it when the teacher does the least amount of talking,” said Keith. “A teacher needs to be a good moderator,” echoed Bruce
Don’t
Don’t dominate the conversation.
- Draw a line between inputting your own opinion and telling students that they’re wrong,” advises Lindsey. “It’s a weird line with a teacher because they’re the authority.”
Don’t cold call.
- Learning should be fun,” Keith reminds us, “and cold calling puts you on the spot. Cold calling makes me nervous about being called on and takes my attention away from what is being taught.”
- “I do not like cold calling,” Bruce agreed. “[It] puts me on edge and makes me feel anxious.”
Don’t require participation in class discussion.
- If you require participation, explains Aiden, “then students say what they have to say to get a good grade and it hurts the quality of the discussion.”
- “I don’t like when my teachers push me to speak,” Ava said, reminding us that “you can learn a lot from listening.
And don’t grade participation.
- “If I think I have something valuable to contribute, Bruce assured, “I will.”
When it comes to Collaboration…
Do
Provide multiple opportunities for students to work together.
- Keith said that he wished there were more opportunities to collaborate with other students in math and science. “If I don’t understand a problem,” he explained, “a member in my group can walk me through it.” When working together, he went on, “you really get to learn what others are thinking and what they have picked up that’s different from me.”
Don’t
Don’t forget what a valuable resource students are to each other!
When it comes to Assessments…
Do
Design reasonable assessments that ask students to demonstrate what they’ve learned.
- “If you study the material from class and do the homework, you should be able to do well on tests,” Eli, a freshman attending school in-person, explained.
Give students multiple opportunities to demonstrate their knowledge.
- Eli prefers having many quizzes throughout a unit instead of just one test. “I like having the chance to see what I know and what I don’t know before I am tested at the end of the unit,” he explained.
Give a lot of small formative assessments!
- Aiden and Lindsey both described teachers who assigned quizzes that only counted if they helped a student’s grade. “I liked that,” Aiden said, “because it took the pressure off.”
Don’t
Skip the trick questions!
- Bruce, a current senior attending school in-person is frustrated when teachers slip trick questions onto tests. “Gotcha questions bother me,” Bruce explained, “because there’s no point. (Bruce)
Don’t rely on high-pressure, high stakes tests!
Don’t let grades overshadow student learning.
When it comes to Homework…
Do
Assign homework that gives students the opportunity to practice what they’ve done in class.
Remember that students have interests and passions beyond school.
Don’t
Ask students to learn new material at home. High school student, Lindsey, believes that learning should happen in class when students have an opportunity to ask questions.
- “Leave homework for practice.”
Don’t assign homework just because you think you should, and don’t assign busy work. Ever.
- “I don’t like when we have to do stuff just for the sake of doing it,” said Bruce.
Teaching is hard yet rewarding work. When we feel overwhelmed, it’s important to remember that, at the end of the day, all students really want is to know that their teachers care about them, that their work matters, and that it’s ok for them (and all of us) to make mistakes as we learn.
