When students are uninterested and struggling to focus, the instinct is to back off.
It’s to require fewer paragraphs and math problems and to stop being so nitpicky about rules and routines.
It makes sense.
If you’re demanding more than they can handle, then it only follows to take your foot off the gas. Release the pressure and they won’t feel so overwhelmed.
The problem, however, is that it doesn’t work.
Lazy indifference isn’t a sign you’re asking too much. It’s a sign you’re asking too little. You see, student motivation feeds on challenge. It feeds on micro goals, healthy strain, and climbing upward from one skill to the next.
Anything less equals boredom and apathy. Therefore, the moment you sense motivation waning, you must up the ante. If you normally assign 10 math problems, assign 12 or 15.
If the lining up routine is sloppy or sluggish, then add additional steps.
Do extra. Ask for more. Raise the stakes.
This is what wakes students up and spurs their motivation. Backing off only demoralizes them further. It discourages and reinforces the pervasive idea that school is a tedious waste of time.
This is a big reason education is the mess that it is. Teachers are misinterpreting the message they’re receiving from uninterested students and thus are lowering the bar.
Over time, it ratchets so low that students can barely write a paragraph or read for longer than 15 minutes.
Make no mistake, lazy indifference is a desperate and pleading message. But the right response isn’t to slow down, ease up, or back off.
It’s to step on the gas.
PS – This week’s video is What Actually Triggers Misbehavior. Every teacher should know this.
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