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In his October 22nd post, Jose Vilson addresses one of the phrases that I have heard many times from my students- "I can't do this!" In many cases, this has become an ingrained belief in my students, coming as the result of being left behind in several of their classrooms throughout the years. Fortunately, Vilson does provide some clues on how to start addressing this problem, many of which I have already used in my instruction.
Perhaps the most valuable insight Vilson provides is focusing on what the student "can" do- assessing at which step of the process the student is having trouble, and providing corrections at that point. However, unlike Vilson, I would not recommend making a protracted conversation out of this- I try to limit "helping" conversations to about 30 seconds at the most. One model I use to accomplish this is Fred Jones' "Praise, Prompt, Leave" strategy, in conjunction with his conceptualization of Visual Instruction Plans. This helps to limit the disruptions that might occur while I am otherwise focused on helping a student.
Another possibility is that offering students "breaks" within reason in an appropriate strategy. By the end of the day, many students have reached their capacity for seat time, and express their frustrations through "I can't do this" or other disruptions. Allowing for small brain breaks has definitely made a difference in my instruction, and helps to keep students more engaged. I would recommend this post to anyone who also hears that phrase in their classroom.
References: Jose Vilson (2013, October 22). The biggest lie students tell me (and how to turn it around). Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/students-biggest-lie-resolving-it-jose-vilson
Interesting article, Randy! Thanks for the good read.
ReplyDeleteI often hear this phrase in my classroom at the collegiate level and I think it is the phrase that bothers me the most.
Small story: I'll be honest and admit that I had used the phrase prior to my freshman year in high school. Now, I never use the phrase and don't think I will ever again but it has been ingrained in me not to. My freshman year, my softball coach absolutely disliked the phrase so much that he told our entire team "can't" was not a part of our vocabulary and we were not allowed to use it. Every time someone used the phrase they immediately had to do push ups. Our coach even went as far as buying us "can do" shirts that ironically we all to do a certain amount of push ups in a row to earn.
Moral of the story; my coach taught me that anything can be done and there's nothing that can't be done without hard work and practice.
I don't know if something like that could be incorporated into your classroom but it has really made an impact on me and I use it both in coaching and in the classroom now :)
I agree with you Randy - incorporating breaks is critical. It allows the brain to do a little more processing and 'permanant filing' before moving onto another concept. Do you do hands-on breaks where students are doing something or just a little down-time break? I think the older the students I would have to do a hands-on break (something to keep them engaged but moving around without them realizing it?).
ReplyDeleteI teach adults in the military so the expectation that is written in our curriculum is there is a break every 50 minutes (about 10 min long), an hour lunch and no more than an 8 hour day. I know our high school students here on base have 90 minute classes, 5 minute breaks in-between and a 45 minute lunch. That is a lot of instruction time and seat time. I hope they are incorporating mini-breaks for them, that would be critical to keep them focused as you suggested.
Thanks for this article!
Ken
Hi Randy,
ReplyDeleteI agree this is a great article. I feel that it is important to encourage our student's when they have that "I can't" mentality. You mentioned that Vilson shares the benefit of taking small breaks. I agree that this is a helpful strategy. It works for me when I am getting overwhelmed to stop what I am doing and come back in a few minutes with a little more of a clear mind. We take mandatory breaks in our long labs to try and keep the dental hygiene students from becoming frustrated with a new technique or procedure. Thanks for sharing.
-Sam