Students today are experts at corroborating information to gauge its credibility, adept at creating art, videos, and infographics, and they can perfectly time a vintage Rick Astley video. However, if you spend time in the classroom, at first glance, it may appear that students’ self-sufficiency, tolerance for struggle, and independence have diminished.
When I went back to teaching, I was surprised by the number of times in a day I was hearing; Can you check this? Is this good? Is this right? Am I in the right place? Can you look at this? I was also surprised that my super tech-savvy students appeared to lose their ability to troubleshoot their simple technical problems in the academic setting and shouted out questions like; How do I get this to reload? Is anyone getting this error message? Where am I supposed to click?
So, what gives? Are students really more helpless than they used to be?
In short, nope.
My work as a health coach for a therapy practice, access to years of social work data, and conversations with educators across the country suggest that the percentage of students with anxiety has grown over the past decade. We’ll get into potential root causes for the rise in anxiety at a later point, but for now, I recognize this is a trend worth mentioning as it relates to my in-class observations. Some kids are checking in to reduce their anxiety, and we must respond to this appropriately. These students direct their repeated questions directly to the teacher at all times. They may physically approach you, raise their hand repeatedly, or call out to you. Immediately jumping in to answer their questions can amplify their anxiety and cause them to check-in and worry more. Encouraging them to use their strategies to check in with themselves, monitor their feelings, and limit their questions can be helpful. For example, I might coach a student like this, “You got this. Remember, you can check in with yourself to see if you’re on the right track. You’re learning to trust yourself, which can be uncomfortable, but I know you can do it.” I may also add, “We’ll get one check-in later today, but let’s save it for when your thinking is further along.”
I’d argue, however, that more than the rising numbers of students who check-in because of anxiety, what we’re seeing is that learning has changed into a different kind of social behavior. The technology that students use outside of school (be it video or computer games or social media, group texts, or message boards) connects them to friends and strangers in an atmosphere that thrives on and encourages communication and crowdsourced problem-solving. Students think aloud, and they operate in a world that offers them immediate access to feedback. These students may shout out their questions to everyone as soon as they arise. They aren’t doing this because they’re rude or they lack skills. Instead, what we see is that they process their learning experience collectively.
They aren’t helpless; they’re exceptionally collaborative and thrive on feedback.
So, how do we harness this for good and capitalize on these new needs and skills?
As always, I’d suggest it starts with explicitly talking to kids about what you notice. Self-awareness is critical with students. Tell them what you see. “I notice how great you are at asking questions to the room to see if you’re on the right track.” Next, engage them in a conversation about when it’s appropriate to think something through individually, check-in quietly with someone at their table, or crowdsource their question. Discuss the benefits of each strategy. Give them ample time to talk to each other. Empower them to see themselves and each other as resources.
We still need to help students see the benefit of productive struggle and how being in what James Nottingham calls “the learning pit” can help us grow our brains. Still, we also need to recognize that our students may interact differently in a learning environment than what we’re used to seeing.
I love the simple advice to “assume positive intent” because I think it’s one of the most important things we can do as teachers. It’s easy to create a narrative that kids struggle to do things independently, but if we shift our perspective and assume positive intent, we can see that they’re okay. They’re just different. And, some of their differences just might be their superpowers.
When I went back to teaching, I was surprised by the number of times in a day I was hearing; Can you check this? Is this good? Is this right? Am I in the right place? Can you look at this? I was also surprised that my super tech-savvy students appeared to lose their ability to troubleshoot their simple technical problems in the academic setting and shouted out questions like; How do I get this to reload? Is anyone getting this error message? Where am I supposed to click?
So, what gives? Are students really more helpless than they used to be?
In short, nope.
My work as a health coach for a therapy practice, access to years of social work data, and conversations with educators across the country suggest that the percentage of students with anxiety has grown over the past decade. We’ll get into potential root causes for the rise in anxiety at a later point, but for now, I recognize this is a trend worth mentioning as it relates to my in-class observations. Some kids are checking in to reduce their anxiety, and we must respond to this appropriately. These students direct their repeated questions directly to the teacher at all times. They may physically approach you, raise their hand repeatedly, or call out to you. Immediately jumping in to answer their questions can amplify their anxiety and cause them to check-in and worry more. Encouraging them to use their strategies to check in with themselves, monitor their feelings, and limit their questions can be helpful. For example, I might coach a student like this, “You got this. Remember, you can check in with yourself to see if you’re on the right track. You’re learning to trust yourself, which can be uncomfortable, but I know you can do it.” I may also add, “We’ll get one check-in later today, but let’s save it for when your thinking is further along.”
I’d argue, however, that more than the rising numbers of students who check-in because of anxiety, what we’re seeing is that learning has changed into a different kind of social behavior. The technology that students use outside of school (be it video or computer games or social media, group texts, or message boards) connects them to friends and strangers in an atmosphere that thrives on and encourages communication and crowdsourced problem-solving. Students think aloud, and they operate in a world that offers them immediate access to feedback. These students may shout out their questions to everyone as soon as they arise. They aren’t doing this because they’re rude or they lack skills. Instead, what we see is that they process their learning experience collectively.
They aren’t helpless; they’re exceptionally collaborative and thrive on feedback.
So, how do we harness this for good and capitalize on these new needs and skills?
As always, I’d suggest it starts with explicitly talking to kids about what you notice. Self-awareness is critical with students. Tell them what you see. “I notice how great you are at asking questions to the room to see if you’re on the right track.” Next, engage them in a conversation about when it’s appropriate to think something through individually, check-in quietly with someone at their table, or crowdsource their question. Discuss the benefits of each strategy. Give them ample time to talk to each other. Empower them to see themselves and each other as resources.
We still need to help students see the benefit of productive struggle and how being in what James Nottingham calls “the learning pit” can help us grow our brains. Still, we also need to recognize that our students may interact differently in a learning environment than what we’re used to seeing.
I love the simple advice to “assume positive intent” because I think it’s one of the most important things we can do as teachers. It’s easy to create a narrative that kids struggle to do things independently, but if we shift our perspective and assume positive intent, we can see that they’re okay. They’re just different. And, some of their differences just might be their superpowers.