How can I help students find the motivation/drive to do their coursework, pass classes, move forward and thrive? I have run out of ideas on how to support students in this time of need. Additionally,  it’s hard to contact students when they’re here only 2 days a week and emails are ignored or phones cannot take messages. Help!

Sincerely, Schlenker

Hi Mrs. Schlenker, from what you wrote, it seems like you’re describing the problem of student burnout.

As you know, however counterintuitive it may seem, the best course of action is to not focus on students’ academics but to focus on students’ mental wellbeing. If you do, everything else, including students’ achievements, will follow. Here are some solutions that focus on mental health.

Get to know your students. According to Education Week, “A Review of Educational Research analysis of 46 studies found that strong teacher-student relationships were associated in both the short- and long-term with improvements on practically every measure schools care about: higher student academic engagement, attendance, grades, fewer disruptive behaviors and suspensions, and lower school dropout rates.”

With the hybrid model and shortened time, learning can be impersonal and therefore discourage students to do their work and flunk their classes.

Some practical counter-measures are 1) Implementing weekly minute meetings and 2) The “What I want my teacher to know about me/ I wish my teacher knew” activities. This will allow for students and teachers to build better relationships.

Work with parents to create a cooperative plan. It takes a village to raise a child. Have students talk with parents about how they can take a better role in their learning.

The advices so far are from the book called Make Virtual Learning Matter by Jacob Mnookin and Paul Axtell. It’s highly recommended to read this book for further advice for how students and teachers can better support each other.

Next, use the Job Demand-Control-Support (JDCS) Model. It’s a model that aims to reduce burnout.

Demand: Students should be allowed to ask for a reduction in the workload and make assignments easier to accommodate students’ drive to do work. Students having too much on their plate will lead to procrastination.

Support: Make the process of asking for help as frictionless as possible. Currently, there are many barriers that prevent students getting help. For one, students who need help are unaware of the fact they can schedule meetings with their counselors or get help from tutors. Sending out monthly Google Forms (asking about well being, announce that help is available, etc.) can help. However, if you want to increase responses, give students time at the beginning of Period 2 to complete the forms or reach out individually.

As for teachers, students are reluctant to reach out for help. This results from the pervasive culture that asking for help is a sign of weakness, so students may not ask at all. To combat this, teachers can do Google Classroom exit slips where students can list their questions/concerns/comments. It is important to keep everything between the two of you.

Control: Talk with your students and understand their situation. Have students do a progress check and ask students what seems to be more appropriate (i.e. Consider pushing back the test? Extensions? Accept late work?). Give students more freedom over your lesson plans. Listening and understanding will make students feel heard. If you can’t compromise on something, it’s important to let your students know the reason.

Students should also take a part in this, too. Implementing effective sleep schedules, light exercise, regular hydration, and eating healthily are great and necessary for next-level performance.

Lastly for communication issues, have students download the app Gmail on their phones to get instant notifications. You can also have students turn on desktop notifications on their PLDs. 

Hope that helps and thank you for the work that you do!

Sue and Diane