Classroom Challenges

8/18/2019 Classroom Challenges

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classroom Challenges

CLASSROOM CHALLENGES OVERVIEW

Sometimes, particular students may cause you problems in class,without warranting major negotiation or intervention. A fewcommon situations, and ways to work them out, are discussedbelow.

PREVENTING CONFLICT

A sensitive approach to your work with students can save you from many problems.

• By phrasing questions and criticism carefully, you can generally avoid defensive orhostile responses.

• f you are supportive, encouraging, and respectful of student ideas in class, you can

correct wrong answers or point out weaknesses without discouraging your students.

• Always show students the courtesy of listening to and responding to their answers

when they o!er an idea.

• "ather than dismissing a weak or inaccurate idea immediately, ask the student to

clarify it using class material. #ften, students can talk their way into a more thoughtfulresponse.

• $ou will also want to be careful about teasing or sarcastic humor, since these are all

too often easily misinterpreted.

$ou are also less likely to run into con%ict with your students if you resolve any mi&ed

feelings you have about your authority as a teacher. Students e&pect you to set clear

boundaries and to hold them to their academic responsibilities.

STRATEGIES FOR MANAGING CHALLENGES

Arguments in Class

'hen arguments erupt in class, or when a student makes an in%ammatory comment,

your role as the instructor is to preserve the learning environment. (his task is two)fold*


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+. irst, maintain a safe environment for your students, which means preventing the

debate from turning into a prolonged attack on either individual students or groups

with whom students may identify. t also means keeping your cool and staying

respectful if a student challenges you- this preserves students trust in you.

/. Second, look for the learning opportunity in the e&perience. 'hat is the value forstudents in hearing opposing viewpoints or challenging commonly held stereotypes0 s

there a way to use the content of the argument to serve your teaching goals0 #r, is

student learning best served by defusing the tension and swiftly refocusing students0

'hen a discussion between students becomes more heated than you would like, you can

use the following strategies to transform arguments into productive debate*

• (ake a deep breath and assess what is happening. s a student voicing frustration0

s a student e&pressing a heartfelt opinion0 Are two students misunderstanding each

other0

• 'henever possible, encourage students to discuss ideas, not individuals, in the

classroom.

• f a student attacks another students idea, ask that student to restate what he or

she thinks the other student meant. 1ake sure that the interpretation is accurate and

allow both students to clarify their statements.

• Ask the students to generate all possible evidence for both sides of a debate as a

way of suspending judgment and encouraging re%ection. Ask students to 2nd

countere&amples as well as e&amples.

• #!er to continue a discussion after class or ask interested students to email you

their thoughts if the topic of the argument is not central to the goals of the class

session.

'hen a student challenges or critici3es you, take the following steps to stay calm and

2nd some value in the e&change*

• (ake a deep breath, and try to understand the content of the students complaint or

challenge. gnore, for a moment, any rudeness- if you respond to the content, the

students attitude and approach may soften.

• "emain calm and nonjudgmental, no matter how agitated the student becomes.

$our emotional response will only further fuel the students anger. (his is especially

true if a student makes a personal attack.


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• 4ont use your authority as a teacher to simply claim superior knowledge or logic-

while in some cases it may be true, it will almost never convince your students, and it

discourages their active engagement with the ideas.

• 5se evidence when disagreeing with a student and ask students to provide

evidence for their positions. $ou may ask other students to evaluate the evidence that

you, or the student, provide, if the argument is related to course content.

• 6ever get into a power struggle with a student. As the teacher, you already have

power- any retaliation to a students provocation is likely to be viewed as an abuse of

power.

• f a student is agitated to the point of being unreasonable, ask him or her to carry

the grievance to a higher authority. 4o not continue trying to reason with a student

who is highly agitated.

When One Student !minates the Classr!!m

#ver talkative or disruptive students can derail a class. f a student dominates the

classroom, try the following strategies to refocus the class and involve other students*

• Ask other students to comment on the dominant students ideas and to propose

alternative perspectives.

• (ry participation strategies that involve the whole group, such as taking a vote,

breaking up into pairs, or doing a 7round robin,8 where every student gives a brief

response to a question, problem, or thought)provoking quote.

• f the dominant student seems to be well)intentioned, you might meet with the

student privately, thank them for their enthusiastic participation, and ask for advice on

how to involve other students. 9et the student know that you want to distribute

participation more evenly, and invite her to be your 7collaborator8 :e.g., by not

answering a question right away to give others an opportunity, or by phrasing

comments in a way that encourages others to respond;.

• f a student dominates by asking too many disruptive questions, you can ask the

full class how many students would prefer that you spend class time answering a

speci2c question. f the class does not vote yes, let the student know that you can

answer his question after class or in o


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When Students Remain Silent

Some days, the silence in a classroom can make you long for a little heated debate. f

you have students who never answer a question, o!er an opinion, or participate in a

demonstration, try these strategies for involving them in the classroom*

• 1ake sure that you know the names of your students and that all the members of a

class know each other by name.

• Create a safe environment by responding positively to all student feedback, even if

you need to correct a statement. (hank each student for his or her contribution and try

to 2nd the seed of a correct or more developed answer in the students response. =ive

students the opportunity to revise or clarify their response.

• >repare students for full)group discussion by having them 2rst discuss the topic in

pairs or by spending a few minutes writing out their response to a question.

• 4o not put a silent student on the spot unless you have established a norm of

calling on students who have not volunteered. A students embarrassment at being

singled out may make it even less likely he or she will want to participate in class.

• f you decide to establish a norm of calling on students who have not volunteered

responses, begin with questions that do not have a single correct answer or questions

that ask students to make a choice between options. (his makes it more likely that

students will be able to answer your question without feeling embarrassment or

resentment.

• "equire all students in your class to stop by your o


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Student E"#uses

was locked out of my dorm all night. had to visit my grandmother, who was having

surgery. slept through my alarm clock because was up all night studying. had the %u,

then had bronchitis, then had a bad reaction to the antibiotics they gave me. had two

other e&ams the day the paper was due.

'hich of these e&cuses would you allow0 4oes it depend on who uses the e&cuse and

how many other e&cuses youve heard from him0 4eciding how to respond to students

e&cuses can be a major challenge. 6o single policy is perfect @inevitably, some

deserving students will be unfairly punished for lifes inconveniences and some

manipulative students will be unfairly rewarded for creative e&cuses. (he best you can do

is have a policy, let students know about it at the beginning of the quarter, and retain the

right to be accommodating if the situation merits it. Some policies you might consider*

• #!er all students some %e&ibility to use at their discretion, e.g., one 7grace day8 for

a single major assignment or one missing assignment if you have frequentassignments. Students dont need to provide an e&cuse, but they get only one free

pass.

• ave a standard grade penalty for late assignments. t should be strict enough to

encourage on)time assignments but not so harsh that it discourages students from

turning in work at all :one)half of a letter grade per day late is probably just right;.

• All e&cuses related to other courses, athletic travel, or other events that students

know about in advance need to be discussed before the due datee&am.

• "ecogni3e that not all students feel comfortable giving e&cuses, even for valid and

serious problems. $ou might invite your students to include a note with each major

assignment or e&am if they think that the work is not a re%ection of their abilities or

preparation. 9et them know that it wont in%uence the grade they receive for that

assignment or e&am, but it may be taken into account in the 2nal grading.

Sometimes a students e&cuses push the boundaries of plausibility or pile up one after

the other as each due date comes around. n these cases, have a conversation with the

student about your concerns. $ou can require some reasonable evidence for their e&cuse-

often this is enough to dissuade malingerers. f its a matter of too many e&cuses, have a

discussion about accountability, time management, and fairness. >articularly if the

e&cuses are not compelling, let the student know that other students have had similar

di


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Grade C!m$laints

nevitably, some students will complain if you give them a lower grade than they

e&pected. Because grade in%ation is common at many top universities, and because

family pressures can be overwhelming, many students believe they need to maintain a

near)perfect =>A in order to achieve their personal and professional goals. $ou will have

more success handling grade complaints if you listen to and respond to their an&ieties. n

addition, there are ways to minimi3e the likelihood of grade complaints*

• 1ake it clear from the beginning e&actly what you e&pect in papers or tests.

• f possible, hand out guidelines for a good essay or e&amples of a superior e&am

answer.

• 'hen you return a graded assignment, note in some detail the weak or strong

points of the work and make suggestions for a better performance ne&t time.

• =ive students the option of handing in a 2rst draft of an assignment that you will

not grade but can critique.

• Save e&amples of student work or e&ams that represent the full grade distribution-

this will help you e&plain to students why they did not receive the grade they hoped

for.

'hen students contest their grades, let them know that when you reconsider their

marks, you retain the right to adjust them up or down. f you are the (A, advise students

that in di


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4emonstrating is the process of teaching through e&amples or e&periments. or e&ample, ascience teacher may teach an idea by performing an e&periment for students. Ademonstration may be used to prove a fact through a combination of visual evidence andassociated reasoning.

4emonstrations are similar to written storytelling and e&amples in that they allow students

to personally relate to the presented information. 1emori3ation of a list of facts is adetached and impersonal e&perience, whereas the same information, conveyed throughdemonstration, becomes personally relatable. 4emonstrations help to raise student interestand reinforce memory retention because they provide connections between facts and real)world applications of those facts. 9ectures, on the other hand, are often geared moretowards factual presentation than connective learning.

Collaboration

Collaboration allows students to actively participate in the learning process by talking witheach other and listening to other points of view. Collaboration establishes a personalconnection between students and the topic of study and it helps students think in a lesspersonally biased way. =roup projects and discussions are e&amples of this teachingmethod. (eachers may employ collaboration to assess students abilities to work as a team,leadership skills, or presentation abilities.

Collaborative discussions can take a variety of forms, such as 2shbowl discussions or groupprojects. After some preparation and with clearly de2ned roles, a discussion may constitutemost of a lesson, with the teacher only giving short feedback at the end or in the followinglesson.

9earning by (eaching

n this teaching strategy, students assume the role of teacher and teach their peers.Students who teach others as a group or as individuals must study and understand a topic

well enough to teach it to their peers. By having students participate in the teachingprocess, they gain self)con2dence and strengthen their speaking and communication skills.

?&periential 9earning

?&periential learning is the process of making meaning from direct e&perience, i.e., Dlearningfrom e&perience. D ?&periential learning focuses on the learning process for the individual.An e&ample of e&periential learning is going to the 3oo and learning through observation andinteraction with the 3oo environment, as opposed to reading about animals from a book.

(hus, one makes discoveries and e&periments with knowledge 2rsthand, instead of hearingor reading about others e&periences.

The $r!#ess !% tea#hing & learning de$ends u$!n the di'erent t($e !%

e)ui$ment a*aila+le in the #lassr!!m, There are man( aids a*aila+le

these da(s li-e. audi!. *isual and audi!& *isual aids, The( ha*e *er(


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mu#h im$!rtan#e in TLP /Tea#hing Learning Pr!#ess0

1eaning of (eaching Aids

As we all know that todays age is the age of science and technology. (he

teaching learning programmes have also been a!ected by it. (he process of

teaching ) learning depends upon the di!erent type of equipment available in

the classroom.

6eed of (eaching Aids

+; ?very individual has the tendency to forget. >roper use of teaching aids

helps to retain more concept permanently.

/; Students can learn better when they are motivated properly through

di!erent teaching aids.

E; (eaching aids develop the proper image when the students see, hear taste

and smell properly.

F; (eaching aids provide complete e&ample for conceptual thinking.

G; (he teaching aids create the environment of interest for the students.

H; (eaching aids helps to increase the vocabulary of the students.


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I; (eaching aids helps the teacher to get sometime and make learning

permanent.

J; (eaching aids provide direct e&perience to the students.

(ypes of (eaching Aids

(here are many aids available these days. 'e may classify these aids as

follows)

, Kisual Aids

, Audio Aids

, Audio ) Kisual Aids

+; Visual Aids

(he aids which use sense of vision are called Kisual aids. or e&ample *) actual

objects, models, pictures, charts, maps, %ash cards, %annel board, bulletin

board, chalkboard, overhead projector, slides etc. #ut of these black board and

chalk are the commonest ones.

/; Audi! Aids

(he aids that involve the sense of hearing are called Audio aids. or e&ample *)

radio, tape recorder, gramophone etc.

E; Audi! & Visual Aids


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(he aids which involve the sense of vision as well as hearing are called Audio)

Kisual aids. or e&ample *) television, 2lm projector, 2lm strips etc.

mportance of (eaching aids

(eaching aids play an very important role in (eaching) 9earning process.

mportance of (eaching aids are as follows *)

+; 1otivation

(eaching aids motivate the students so that they can learn better.

/; Clari2cation

(hrough teaching aids , the teacher clarify the subject matter more easily.

E; 4iscouragement of Cramming

(eaching aids can facilitate the proper understanding to the students which

discourage the act of cramming.

F; ncrease the Kocabulary

(eaching aids helps to increase the vocabulary of the students more e!ectively.

G; Saves (ime and 1oney

H; Classroom 9ive and active

(eaching aids make the classroom live and active.

I; Avoids 4ullness


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J; 4irect ?&perience

(eaching aids provide direct e&perience to the students

(he process of teaching ) learning depends upon the di!erent type of

equipment available in the classroom. (here are many aids available these

days like, audio, visual and audio) visual aids. (hey have very much importance

in (9> :(eaching 9earning >rocess;

1eaning of (eaching AidsLAs we all know that todays age is the age of science

and technology. (he teaching learning programmes have also been a!ected by

it. (he process of teaching ) learning depends upon the di!erent type of

equipment available in the classroom.

6eed of (eaching Aids

+; ?very individual has the tendency to forget. >roper use of teaching aids

helps to retain more concept permanently.

/; Students can learn better when they are motivated properly throughdi!erent teaching aids.

E; (eaching aids develop the proper image when the students see, hear taste

and smell properly.

F; (eaching aids provide complete e&ample for conceptual thinking.

G; (he teaching aids create the environment of interest for the students.

H; (eaching aids helps to increase the vocabulary of the students.

I; (eaching aids helps the teacher to get sometime and make learning

permanent.

J; (eaching aids provide direct e&perience to the students.


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(ypes of (eaching Aids

(here are many aids available these days. 'e may classify these aids as

follows)

. Kisual Aids

. Audio Aids

. Audio ) Kisual Aids

+; Kisual Aids

(he aids which use sense of vision are called Kisual aids. or e&ample *) actual

objects, models, pictures, charts, maps, %ash cards, %annel board, bulletin

board, chalkboard, overhead projector, slides etc. #ut of these black board and

chalk are the commonest ones.

/; Audio Aids

(he aids that involve the sense of hearing are called Audio aids. or e&ample *)

radio, tape recorder, gramophone etc.

E; Audio ) Kisual Aids

(he aids which involve the sense of vision as well as hearing are called Audio)

Kisual aids. or e&ample *) television, 2lm projector, 2lm strips etc.

mportance of (eaching aids

(eaching aids play an very important role in (eaching) 9earning process.


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mportance of (eaching aids are as follows *)

+; 1otivation

(eaching aids motivate the students so that they can learn better.

/; Clari2cation

(hrough teaching aids , the teacher clarify the subject matter more easily.

E; 4iscouragement of Cramming

(eaching aids can facilitate the proper understanding to the students which

discourage the act of cramming.

F; ncrease the Kocabulary

(eaching aids helps to increase the vocabulary of the students more e!ectively.

G; Saves (ime and 1oney

H; Classroom 9ive and active

(eaching aids make the classroom live and active.

I; Avoids 4ullness

J; 4irect ?&perience

(eaching aids provide direct e&perience to the students

'hat are the principles that are used in teaching

aids0


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Audio)visual aids should be used interdepartmentally. ere is an illustrative list of aids

which can be used by various sections of the same department as also by the various

departments of the same institution.

:a; ?pidiascope,

:b; ilm projector,

:e; (ape recorder andor dictating machine, and

:f; "ecord player.

4i!erent types of aids can be used advantageously for demonstrating various

subjectstopics of learning and for development of various skills. t is for the teachers to

see that these audio)visual materials do not replace teaching.

Such aids may be used or the following purposes*

:i; or introducing a new topic and for creating necessary background for further study.

:ii; or supplying a basis for conceptual thinking.

:iii; or arousing interest and intensifying learning so that it becomes more permanent.

:iv; (o present actually used forms in business houses.

:v; (o show various vocational opportunities to the students.

T($es !% tea#hing aids

(he 6ational Council of ?ducational "esearch and (raining :6.C.?.".(.; have classi2ed

various aids as follows*

:; =raphic Aids

Such aids include the following*

:a; >hotographs and pictures,

:b; lash cards and strips,

:c; >osters,


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:d; Charts,

:e; 4iagrams,

:f; =raphs,

:g; 1aps,

:h; Cartoons, and

:i; Comics

/II0 4isplay Boards

n this are included the following

Black Board,

lannel Board,

Bulletin Board,

1agnet Board, and

>eg Board.

/III0 (hree 4imensional Aids

(hey are*

:a; 1odels,

:b; #bjects,

:c; Specimens,

:d; >uppets and 1obiles. :(K; >roject Aids

:a; ilms,

:b; ilms Strips, and

:c; Slides,


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/V0 Audio)Aids

:a; "adio,

:b; (elevision :(K;, and

:c; "ecording.

/VI0 Activity Aids

:a; ield trips,

:b; 4emonstration, and

:c; 4ramatics.


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Classroom Challenges

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