I was recently asked the question:

I assume you can probably relate.

Reflecting on my own experiences, I remember times when I assigned a failing grade, half-hoping it would serve as a wake-up call for students to avoid neglecting their studies. However, experience has taught me that failing grades rarely spark the motivation to study for future tests.

It’s crucial to acknowledge that a student’s reluctance to study may not stem from defiance or laziness. The crux of the matter often lies in a lack of understanding of how to study effectively.

Recognizing this helps us approach the situation with greater empathy and to come up with more effective strategies.

Here are 2 things you can try:

Office hours as a learning opportunity

Office hours are a great place to TEACH students how to study.

Getting students to office hours can be challenging.

Our office hours were during lunch. I always struggled with how much I should ‘force’ a student to come to office hours or leave it to them to take the initiative to come.

Ideally they’d come on their own, but sometimes if I saw them walk by my classroom during office hours and I knew they really needed to attend, I’d gently invite them in (ie. OH HEY! YOU’RE JUST IN TIME FOR OFFICE HOURS!)

Once they were in office hours though, that’s when I’d take the opportunity to teach them how to study.

• I had them get the review sheet out and showed them to start with problems they had a little more of an idea of what to do.
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• I showed them how to make flashcards.
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• I showed them how to strategically use the provided answer key to the review sheet (and how just copying the answers wouldn’t help them actually learn the material).

These skills aren’t inherently known; they’re taught and learned.

If they can’t do it in office hours, these are also strategies that you can teach students during normal class hours as well.

Email study resources to students AND parents

About a week before any big exam, I sent a detailed email that included study resources and guidelines to both students and parents.

I wrote a subject line like ‘Pre-Algebra Unit 3 Test Review Resources’ so it was very clear what the email was about and didn’t get missed as easily.

In the email, I provided:

✅ the date of the test
✅ linked study resources
✅ my office hours times and locations

Parents often replied saying they appreciated the resources.

Not every parent will open and read the email.

But this provides another avenue to get support from home in getting the students what they need to study and find success.

Hope that’s helpful!

THOM GIBSON Educator | Creator ​thomgibson.com​ ​​

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113 Cherry St #92768, Seattle, WA 98104-2205
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