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If you're open-minded, here's a hack that just might change your teaching forever. Ready?
First off, contrary to popular opinion, teenagers aren't lazy. They will grind on Fortnite into the wee hours if you let them.
First off, contrary to popular opinion, teenagers aren't lazy. They will grind on Fortnite into the wee hours if you let them.
So that procrastination we see in class, the behaviors we often refer to as "task avoidance" or "work avoidance"?
It's actually *stress* avoidance. Adults who procrastinate do it too.
It's actually *stress* avoidance. Adults who procrastinate do it too.
When we're dealing with stress avoidance, raising the stakes and increasing the urgency won't accomplish much. In fact, it usually makes things worse.
The child's brain just ends up associating more and more stress with the task you want them to complete.
The child's brain just ends up associating more and more stress with the task you want them to complete.
If the urgency and stakes are high enough, even minor tasks become daunting due to effects of stress on the brain.
Facing the task at hand becomes the *last* thing we want to do. So we put it off. And it just gets worse as the deadline approaches.
Facing the task at hand becomes the *last* thing we want to do. So we put it off. And it just gets worse as the deadline approaches.
A kid will cobble some trash together at the last minute, or just take a zero, rather than face the task that has been distorted and magnified through the lens of stress *we* caused.
So, if our students are struggling with "task avoidance," we should consider the possibility that it's *stress* avoidance and dial back the urgency and the stakes instead.
*Don't* say, "This is due in 10 minutes and it's worth 100 points and if you still have nothing you get a zero."
Try saying, "Your grade will be fine one way or another, and if you don't finish today you can keep working tomorrow."
They'll get it done faster than you expect.
Try saying, "Your grade will be fine one way or another, and if you don't finish today you can keep working tomorrow."
They'll get it done faster than you expect.
It'll ruin your teacher evening in the best possible way, because you'll be writing another lesson to compensate for the fact that they did a two-day assignment in a day.
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