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On the surface, the barely-stricken learner looks like a teenager who doesn’t care about your course. They may be distinguished, take action or leave the classroom under any excuse. However, their reluctance has nothing to do with what happened in the class, but with their student identity.
The key to attracting reluctant high school students is to make them more interested in their studies. Use these classroom strategies to build relationships, be curious and build a learning team focused on student success.
1. Start again
No student wants to enter your classroom because your reputation is already in your heart. When possible, learn as much of your freshman students as possible and tell them that you know nothing about them.
Then, you can get to know them yourself! Use an icebreaker for high school students to learn more about them. You can also ask survey questions such as “What should I know before the school year begins?” and “What are you most worried about the coming year?”
2. Establish personal relationships
Building trust with your barely learners is a big part of keeping them engaged. Use SEL checking strategies to check children in the class who seem less interested in teaching, including learners, to keep learners up to date.
Those personal relationships may be the difference between a high school student who went to school that day and a high school student who didn’t have one. They may also create safe places for students when they need to have difficulties at home or in other classes in school.
3. Establish basic knowledge
Many students encounter gaps in their mentoring, making many lessons and activities incredible. Start a year based on the foundation courses in the previous year (even below the CCS of that year) to ensure students have the tools they need to succeed.
This basic knowledge includes learning skills. No matter what subject you teach, take the time to show students how to take notes, how to learn tests and quizzes, and how to balance their time between homework and other after-school activities. Once the reluctant learner knows success and can control it, you will find that their grades start to rise.
4. Find new ways to evaluate learning
Barely learners often suffer from test anxiety, especially when they are in high school. Before your unit test or weekly quiz, they may become so nervous that they cannot properly prove their knowledge, resulting in lower grades (and lower students’ self-esteem).
Use different types of assessments in the class to help reluctant testers show what they know. Rather than taking a written exam, students are required to take a course summary as an exit ticket before leaving. Conduct casual formative assessments during class discussions or group activities and regularly check with students who need more support. Once the fear of the big test goes away, you may find participation replaced it.
5. Make your course relevant (interesting)
This sounds obvious, but one way to get students interested is to make your course more interesting. This doesn’t mean you need to skip important concepts or simplify complex topics, but it does mean you can make your guidance more applicable to their lives.
Use inquiry-based learning to develop its natural sense of curiosity and autonomy. Select high-interest books and materials for reading activities and encourage students to choose how to complete the final project. And if you can incorporate their phones and/or electronic devices into the course, you will get more students’ attention!
6. Mobile seat map
Given their choices, barely learners often decide to hang out in the back of the classroom. This location allows them to easily avoid answering questions, sleeping in class or chatting with friends without your attention.
While moving them to the front of the class may be too fast, consider placing reluctant learners in the middle of the classroom seating arrangement. Then, every few weeks, a seat chart is changed to separate students who are disengaged from teaching and keep a close eye on learners who can use mild moderate nudges.
7. Go to a student-centered classroom
It’s no secret that a teacher-centric classroom is on the road to the 21st century. Lectures in the front of the room can easily disconnect the barely students, especially if they don’t understand what you’re teaching (it’s unlikely they’ll ask questions about it).
Empower students to actively learn in a student-centered classroom so that they can participate in such a way that they have never been able to do. Discuss topics with peers, investigate problems and solutions, work together in the team, and find your preferred way to complete tasks so that students can take control of their learning. It also allows you to get more one-on-one help as other students complete their work.
8. Ask them for help
Some reluctant learners feel that they do not belong to the classroom community. Show them how valuable their contribution to the class is whether you ask them for help, whether you distribute worksheets, cut pencils, or assist classroom organization.
Relying on reluctant learners to help them join them on your team prevents them from being an opposing force in the classroom. This is a particularly useful strategy for those students who are ongoing attendance or who like to disrupt the course to avoid completing tasks.
9. Second (and third) chance
For many reluctant learners, a school’s failure is enough to strengthen their belief in poor students. By giving them extra class opportunities, proving that they are wrong, whether it is the extended deadline for homework, the chance to retest, the chance to eliminate their worst test scores or the ability to restart after a class that is particularly disruptive.
Put extra effort to ensure that reluctant learners take advantage of these opportunities. Let them know that a mistake doesn’t define them as a person or student, and that each task is an opportunity to learn something of its own, even if it has nothing to do with the subject.
10. Build a learning team
Although some reluctant learners may have behavioral programs or IEPs, many do not. They graduated from high school with low grade average and hard work, so parents and school management may not care. Starting early this year, stop adequate communication on the track, whether it’s weekly emailing parents or having regular conversations with academic consultants (or ideally).
Help parents establish homework rituals and show them how to view student progress in online grades. Let the counselor know the students you care about so they can monitor their success and contact them when needed. Schedule time for comparison with other teachers of the student to compare notes and, where possible, observe how the student performs during other periods of the day.
11. Reward journey, not results
When students believe that one letter grade defines the entire semester, they can easily become reluctant learners. While you may not be able to change the entire report card system, expectations and goals are set in the classroom so high school students can see progress on a smaller scale.
Have all students set skills-based goals at the beginning of the year. Reluctant students are encouraged to focus on participating and completing goals, such as “I will hand in 90% of my assignments” or “I will miss classes less than 5 times.” Checking their goals with students and strengthening the barely learners, each small achievement adds up to a huge success.
How to identify unwilling learners
When you examine the interaction between their academic success, classroom behavior, and general emotional impacts, you will find that barely learners are easy to identify.
A barely high school student may show some or all of the following signs:
- Destructive behavior, from behaviors that require immediate discipline to low-level distractions
- Frequently try to avoid homework or activities, including repeated trips to the bathroom, distractions in class, and excessive social activities
- Sleepy or disengaged behaviors, such as placing your head on a table, falling asleep or continuing to engage in other activities
- One or more courses have long-term poverty or inconsistent attendance
- Average or poor grades in one or more courses
- Rarely do homework or class assignments, or work is often stolen.
- Unable to realize academic potential in the classroom without any signs of learning disabilities
Barely learners may have low grades and test scores, or they may be students who can only “pass” without doing much work. Either way, they won’t be involved in your mentoring and will not meet your class expectations.
How do students become reluctant learners?
Every barely learner is different, so it is difficult to determine when they start to separate themselves from their learning experiences. But, barely learners may believe that they are poor students, no matter how hard they try, so it makes no sense when they feel they will fail.
Some reluctant learners may have formed this belief in the face of negative feedback from parents or previous teachers, challenges or non-intervention from a second language or learning disability. Others may feel disconnected because their job is not challenged or stressed because they lack the learning skills they need to find the success.
This belief can create an emotional filter for students that prevent them from believing that they can succeed in a classroom environment. To improve students’ emotional filters, teachers first need to determine why it is there and what needs the students need to feel successful.
What is the student’s engagement?
Maximizing student participation is the goal of every teacher! In a successful classroom setting, engaged students may exhibit these behaviors:
- Show curiosity about a course or topic
- Use learning tools to pursue your own learning
- Ask and answer questions from peers and teachers
- Get high participation results and show interest in improving academic performance
- Regular classes
- Willing to review and/or rework jobs that master specific skills
- Try to discuss a topic or work on a project with a group
Imagine having a course for learners like this! With a focus on student experience and some useful classroom techniques in the toolbox, you will be able to get the most, if not all, students on board for a more engaged learning experience.
Create an engaging learning environment for all abilities
Whether they are a hand student or a direct learner, everyone in your class can succeed with the right tools and support. For more help in maintaining a positive and efficient classroom, follow our guide on classroom management strategies for any school environment. You can also find ways to implement special education resources in high school to meet the needs and abilities of all students, regardless of their struggle or circumstances.
