Give Them A Voice
The “Good” ‘Ol Days
If you’re like me, you’re not still in school, and you’ve probably been away from it for a “few” years. Things have changed, but most of us remember what is used to be like. You show up and you’re on time. If not, you get detention. When you’re in class, you sit and listen, take notes, and read the chapters in the text book. Then you go home to read additional chapters, write a paper on the information or do the practice problems. There might be a question section at the end of the chapter where you can just look the information up. Many times you just write a paper on a book or answer the questions that are explicitly listed in the materials. That seems very limited to me.
Nowadays, students can just search the internet for the answers or find the synapsis that tells you what the main idea is or the author’s intent. You can scan math problems with your mobile device and it will not only solve them, but show you the “work” so you can copy it down. Some of you are thinking how great that would be for you so you wouldn’t have to “learn” any of that useless information. When was the last time you solved the area of a circle or found the slope of a curve? Do you still write book reports for review?
Some of you may also be experiencing trauma right now thinking back on those events. You stayed up all night cramming for a test. You spent your weekend at the library scouring books for information to fill your 10 page paper. You may have even paid someone so you could copy their math homework or write your paper for you. All of those things, minus the library, are still relevant today. Students still make use of some of these methods and they will likely be in the same place you are at some point. So things aren’t that different. At least in those areas.
Today
Today, students are experiencing similar things. They show up to school and if they’re not on time, they might get detention. More than likely, the teacher is late too or just doesn’t care if you’re on time. You know, that’s not relevant in industry; the place your teacher has never worked. Students sit in class and the teacher drones on. They’re not listening or taking notes because they’re listening to music or a video on their wireless earbuds. They don’t read the chapters or do the practice problems because all of that is only worth 10%-15% of their grade. They’ll just copy the answers from another source when it comes time for the test or research paper.
We as teachers have some tools to challenge these “new” methods. There are ways you can word questions or math equations that technology has a tough time answering. We can put your research paper through checking services for plagiarism and check for accuracy. We can take away your technology during the test and distribute multiple versions of a similar test to reduce copying. No matter the defensive technique, it takes effort on the part of the teacher to reduce the chances of students cheating. But if you just allow them to cheat, the grades will be higher and you will look like an effective teacher.
Maybe things are a bit different. Or maybe my perspective has just changed. In any case, students today are not the same students from when you were in school. What do you think education was like for your parents? Why don’t you ask them? Or what about your grandparents if they’re still alive? So what has changed?
Students today are inundated with information from every sensory method. They often have trouble focusing due to this sensory overload. On top of that, they have to deal with similar things that many of us never thought about as students. Did they get a good nights sleep or breakfast? When was the last time they actually ate? Have they slept or even showered recently? Are they being abused or neglected at home? Do they have trouble focusing due to these factors or other mental health issues? Have you asked them?
They are also continuously bombarded with unrealistic images of life online and the potential for others to bully or attack them anonymously. These are things most of us didn’t have to deal with. However, for the current generation of “digital natives”, this is a way of life. It’s not one they have chosen, it was the one they were born into.
What Am I Getting At?
So I started this post saying what education is/was and cheating, and now I’m talking about mental health? To me, these factors are intertwined. “Cheating” is a student taking the easy way out because they don’t care for one reason or another. You can’t MAKE them care, but you can find ways to reach them and make your topics relevant to them. But cheating is condemning yourself to a life of being good at something that you don’t even like. So how do you make students care? I don’t have an answer to that. But what I do have are some methods I use to help my students and myself to use education as a meaningful tool rather than a chore for both of us.
Method 1: Ask them
That sounds super simple. And it is. We have education standards that we have to teach and we have skills in mind that we would like students to learn through these lessons. Incorporating those with student interest is the next part. When you find out what they would like to do, mix your topics in with that. Here’s an example. Students enjoy making short format video on their devices. Take whatever topic you’re working on and have them deliver it through this medium. How is that any different than having them write a few paragraphs? They may not get the writing skills in there, but you can have them write the script for that video or leave written feedback on classmates’ videos to cover that standard. You can’t do that for every assignment, but by appeasing students with their own interests on some assignments, they are more likely to do well on those particular assignments and then soldier on through the ones that aren’t as interesting.
Method 2: Listen
Get feedback from your students about what is working for them.. Get feedback from other teachers about what they have found success with. Look at the work that is being completed. Is it genuine? Does it cover all of the important information that students NEED? Does it allow students to explore the material more deeply if they choose? Does it help them learn other lessons about life and education beyond the standards? Ask them what they thought of the lesson immediately after and, if you’re fortunate enough, ask former students what they thought of it. I always reserve the final days of the school year to have a discussion with students to get feedback on how I can become a better educator and how I can make their experience in class more enjoyable. I never enjoyed being at school, but if we’re going to be stuck there, we might as well make it less painful.
Method 3: Give Them A Voice
Beyond just allowing students to provide feedback and become a part of their own education rather than just being a passenger, give them a chance to speak about other things. As I mentioned before, they have other things happening in their lives that may prevent them from focusing while in class. The method I use was “stolen” from Ken Shelton (you’ll see his name a lot). It’s just a simple Google Form that asks how they are feeling on that particular day. It then gives them a chance to ask for help or just comment. I have found GREAT success with this. Many times students are just leave the comment section blank or make general comments. However, I have several students who confide in me that they need help with something personal or use it as a daily “diary”.
This short and easy starter for class allows me to check in on the climate of the class and allows students to check in with themselves. “How are you actually feeling today?” It allows them to reflect upon themselves and the day. You’d be surprised at what you hear when you give them a voice to speak. The results I get are through a spreadsheet, and I intentionally hide the email address that it collects. The reason I do this is that it doesn’t matter who is asking for general help. When it comes to students confiding in me or asking for something specific, I of course seek out their email address so I can help them more directly. But for a general sense of how things are going, it can remain anonymous.
You would be surprised at how this connection between you and your students opens up the education experience. When students feel they have a voice and a say in how they are educated, they are now a stakeholder and not a commodity. However you find it best to open this two-way communication, do it. I’ve always had decent rapport with students, but recently by implementing this quick form, they are much more receptive and communicative with me. I find myself sharing more of my personal education and life lessons with them which is hopefully reaching them on a deeper level. Time will tell.
