Carissa Dembinski
Responding to Students Who Are Not Participating
There could be so many reasons why students may not be participating in class, especially an online class. I believe that the first step I would need to take as the educator would be to find the source of the issue. Oftentimes there are deeper issues going on rather than a student simply not feeling like or wanting to do their work. Students could feel overwhelmed with the amount of work they have in their other classes, or they may not understand the materials but are too afraid to ask for help, they could simply not have time due to other extracurricular activities, etc. Therefore, if I noticed that one of my students had not been participating in class or doing their work, I would reach out to them and maybe schedule a meeting to figure out what the real problem is then try to work out a solution that would work for both them and myself.
If a student was demonstrating a skills deficit, I would reach out to them and have a one-on-one chat to figure out what they may not be understanding or holding them back from being able to complete the classwork. Once we have figured out where the struggles are, I would work out a schedule, that would work well for the student, to tutor them or work with them on the class work. I would also make sure I am being accommodating in the way I am teaching the materials to be sure that I am going over the information in a way that suits their learning style. With these students, I think it is important for teachers to set aside time when they can have their undivided assistance and attention.
If I noticed that a student seemed to be struggling with a performance deficit, I would try out different methods of motivation. My first step would be to break down assignments into smaller tasks. For example, if they were working on a big essay, I would have them complete one paragraph at a time. My professor did this in my English Composition course and it really helped me stay on task and not fall behind or wait until the last minute. Each week when we came into class we were to have one or two paragraphs done. I would also try giving them their work in a fun way, such as using game-like activities or apps. Overall, for this type of student I think it would be important to figure out what their motivators are and break down large, daunting assignments into bite sized tasks so as to not overwhelm them.
Hi Carissa! We had similar strategies for supporting students with a skill deficit. You did however have some ideas for a performance deficit that I didn't consider, such as breaking down assignments into smaller tasks. I'm sure that would be a big help to a number of students, as you said it helped you previously. How do you think you would determine whether to break things down into smaller assignments or to present their work in a fun way?
ReplyDelete