famous sales guru Zig Ziglar (2002) says, “Failure is an event—not a person.” When a student does not do his homework, focus on the act and the decision, not the individual or personality type. Treat failure to complete homework as a decision or as an event, and immediately move toward a solution-based approach.
Ask yourself the following questions.
• “Did the student record the homework assignment in class the previous day?”
• “Is the student required to care for younger siblings, and thus has little or no time to complete the work?”
• “Is the student leaving his or her homework until late in the evening when he or she is exhausted?”
I once had a student confess to me (after his fourth after-school detention for not doing homework) that he had lost his mathematics book. As soon as we got him a new book, the problem magically disappeared! Asking the right questions can help uncover the truth, as well as lead to some real solutions.
In their article “Strategic Questioning: Engaging People’s Best Thinking,” authors Juanita Brown, David Isaacs, Eric Vogt, and Nancy Margulies (2002) share this wisdom: “Leaders who ask, ‘What’s possible here, and who cares?’ will have a much easier time gaining the collaboration and best thinking of their constituents than those who ask ‘What’s wrong here, and who is to blame?’” (p. 5).
Consider the following alternatives instead.
• “If you could relive yesterday, what would you do differently in order to get your homework done?”
• “If you could change one thing about where and when you do your homework, what would that one thing be?”
• “What are the biggest obstacles to you not getting your homework done?”
As teachers, we know that homework is the key to mastering concepts that we teach in class (often in a very limited amount of time). I often tell my students, “You haven’t learned something until you can do it on your own, without my help.”
Completing their homework is an essential part of this process. When we ask questions that focus on process and success, not failure, we can truly empower students to achieve inside and outside the classroom.
Summary
In sum, if we really want to seize those teachable moments with students, we must be willing to put ourselves in their shoes and examine our own vernacular for those phrases that sabotage their learning. Then, we must erase those phrases from our teaching vocabulary and redirect them into words that inspire and empower our students to think beyond what they’ve been hearing for years and instead engage in their own learning.
Reflection Questions
Now that you have completed the chapter, consider and reflect on the following questions.
1. What are some things you say that interfere with engaging students in a teachable moment? How might you change your words to more productively engage them?
2. Find an item that will be on your next test. What is the real, deeper reason that students need to learn it? How could you communicate this idea to them to stimulate their interest?
3. Have you tried any of the strategies mentioned for getting your students to quiet down? What is your most effective way to get your class silent, allowing you to begin speaking?
4. Name a student that hasn’t turned in much homework recently. What could you say to this student to begin a conversation about finding the real, deeper reasons behind the missing homework?
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5
I SAID BE QUIET … AND START TALKING
Help Students Learn Out Loud and Still Keep a Handle on Your Classroom
In chapter 4 (page 29), I wrote about ways your own words can disrupt teachable moments and achieve the exact opposite result of what you aimed for. This chapter also focuses on the power of words but focuses on ways to encourage your students to use their own voices, because one of the best ways to engage students is to make them active participants in their own learning.
I once had the opportunity to visit one of California’s lowest-performing schools. Located in a high-poverty neighborhood, with test scores in the gutter, the school had all of the stereotypical low-performing attributes—except one. According to the school staff, there were very nearly no behavior or discipline problems.
As I toured from classroom to classroom, I had to agree. The students seemed very well-behaved, and the teachers seemed to have their procedures and routines down to a science. As bells rang, the students moved through the halls with grace and ease. Teachers didn’t understand how they could work so hard all day without it reflecting in students’ test scores.
As I continued to observe classrooms, I realized that the teachers absolutely were teaching. And that was the problem. The teachers spent so much time teaching, there was very little time left to devote to the students’ learning.
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