I recently received the following question emailed by a fellow educator:
"Sometimes I plan a fun assignment for my eleventh grade class that I know they will really enjoy. When I say 'I think you will like your homework today', they just cringe and nearly revolt before they have even seen the assignment. How can I get my students to not 'judge' assignments before they even give them a try?"
Well, it sounds like you are working hard to come up with assignments that you hope your students will enjoy. That's a start! The problem may not lie in the assignment itself, but in what you call the assignment.
Imagine that you, as a teacher, walked into a staff development and the facilitator began with, "Okay everybody, let's do some Icebreakers." What is your initial reaction? How would you feel? I can practically hear the groans through my computer as you are reading this! Here is another example, "We are going to do some Role-Playing." Sick to your stomach? These are often some of the reactions that we feel when someone says those things to us. We, as adults, sometimes (often in most staff developments) have negative thoughts about experiences before they even start!
Why might some people have negative reactions to those words? Words like "Icebreaker" and "Role-Play" carry a history with them. For many people icebreakers can be a living nightmare. Each participant may have a slightly different history with certain words, but a history none-the-less. Some words can cause a negative reaction with some audiences but a very positive reaction in others. Let's look at the word "play," for example. To a group of third graders, that word coming out of a teacher's mouth might be a dream come true. If a facilitator tells a group of teachers that they are going to spend their day "playing" there may be a negative reaction. To some adults, playing may seem like a waste of time.
There are many words that may cause a negative reaction with students as well. Can you think of any words that have a negative history with them according to the learners with whom you work? What about "Test," "Presentation," and "Homework?" No matter how fun or useful the assignment may be, it is beginning with a "bad" word. In the past, homework might have been very difficult or seemed pointless to some students. The thought of having more homework causes them to put the assignment in a not-so-helpful perspective.
Let's step outside of the classroom for a minute. Imagine for a moment that you really love iced tea. Imagine that you also love diet coke. If you reach into the icebox for a can of diet coke, you are expecting to have an experience similar to the last time you had a diet coke. What if instead of diet coke in that can, somebody had placed iced tea. What would be your first reaction? Some people would instantly spit it out on the floor. The "Label" on the diet coke can set you up to have an experience with which you were familiar.
There are two ways to influence a more positive reaction when you know your lesson may have a label that is not helpful.
1) Avoid the label completely, or
2) Redefine or replace the label with another word or phrase
Instead of "Homework" you could say, "I am going to give you a chance to show me how well I did in teaching this topic." When I tought high school algebra, I used this swap quite often: Instead of "Test", I would say "On Friday, you will have the opportunity to show me what you have learned about this topic." This switch worked very well. It became almost a joke to the students. They would ask, "When is our next opportunity?" They still knew it was a "Test," but some of the anxiety was removed from the environment because the actual label was replaced.
We know that it is sometimes helpful for people to "Role-Play" in certain situations. This is a label that is easily avoided. To a group of students in a co-op program that is getting ready for job interviews, for instance, practicing the interview in advance could be very helpful. Yet, telling the group they are going to role-play can really set the time up to be nonproductive. Do you think it would get a better reaction if it was introduced in the following way?
"Next week everyone in the room will be interviewing for their jobs. To make the experience as easy as possible, it might be helpful to have some of the words that work well in advance. Please pair up....Next week it is going to be real. What are you going to say? Tell your partner what you would say to a potential employer if they asked you _____"
Are the students role-playing? Yes, they are. The teacher, however, did not use that potentially harmful (and anti-productive) label.
Some other labels that you may want to avoid (depending on your learners):
Dance
Fun
Sing
Game
Examination
Can you think of ways to avoid the situations that could be possibly created by the above labels? Listen to the words you choose next time you are in front of a group and see if you can identify any labels you may be using. Also, over the next couple weeks, watch your students and listen to yourself. What other labels are in your reality?
I look forward to your comments. Thank you for your continued interest in teaching and learning.
~Regards,
Duke Kelly
Education Illustrated - CEO
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