Planning for the masses is a mistake. The "challenge students" are the ones that we need to be focusing on to build more inclusive engagement and experiences. Here are some examples how...
How Good is your feedback?
Here is your student, his name is Kevin. Kevin found out last night that his beloved grandfather has cancer and won’t be around much longer. On top of that, coming to school today, a car splashed his new shoes, and with each step he took a combination of squishy-squeak echoes out of his feet. He is in your 3rd period, and he found out in the second period that he will be in homework club after school because he forgot to turn in his assignment because of the family drama. Deflated and lost, Kevin sits down in your class and receives the feedback that you have given him. What do you write to him to help him focus on the goals of the assignment, inspiring creativity and passion behind the final product that he is about to create?
Is Your First Lesson Exciting Enough?
You have a student, Lucy. She found out yesterday that she was accepted to her #1 choice university. Additionally, she was just asked to the prom by her boyfriend in an overly Social Media fuelled way that is the talk of the school.
She is the one you are presenting the new unit to, introducing vocabulary and engaging in a formative assessment to gauge prior understanding
Will they participate?
The goal is to have a full discussion, where all 22 students provide feedback and discuss the impact and potential of the topic at hand. There should be active conversation on the individual, partner, group, and whole class levels. But you have Jack.
Jack is a self-proclaimed and parent-encouraged introvert. Unwilling to talk with many in a whole group discussion, his stubborn personality takes on the role of “silent observer”.
These are the audiences you are creating for:
Kevin needs feedback that brings more than a “good job”. If Kevin can read your feedback and get inspired and focused on the next steps of the project, so will every other student. Dive deeper into the feedback needed. How is Kevin doing in comparison to the standards? What can he do to improve and what is the plan you will work next to him?
How do you connect to Lucy when there are thousands of voices and thoughts flying around her head, heart, phone, and classroom? What story could you tell to engage her in the next unit, finding focus, curiosity, and excitement for what is to come in the next classes?
Jack would be happier not saying anything at all, floating by, but that’s not the best experience for him. There is value in participation, group discussions, and rigorous collaborative experiences. What could pull him into a conversation?
These illustrations are based on teachings from the book Diary of A CEO by Stephen Bartlett. In his book, he talks about how to market to the worst type of customer because if you can sell them, you can sell to the rest of the population.
Disrupt your planning, not for the masses, or even for your school-aged self that you imagine when you are designing new assignments or activities. Take that kid who is the most difficult and let them be your inspiration to thrive!
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