Quick Tip: How to ask your teacher for help, so their help, helps.
What to do when your teacher's explanation doesn't help?
Have you ever gone to your teacher for extra help, and their explanation doesn’t help? What did you do? Ask again, give up or tell them you don’t understand or … Today, I’ll write about how to ask your teacher for help so their helps, helps.
I always encourage my students to ask their teacher for help - their teacher is at school every day, and their job is to help you understand, so ask away. Here’s a story about a student I had many years ago who went up to ask his teacher a question, and well, it didn’t go well ☹. But we solved the problem 😊. This is how our conversation went, and I’ll call the student Reid (not his real name).
Reid: I went up to get help from my teacher.
EH (that’s me): Well, done to go up and ask a question. How did it go?
Reid: Not well.
EH: What happened?
Reid: I asked her a question, but she explained it the same way she did to the class. But I still didn’t understand.
EH: Okay, what did you do?
Reid: I asked her again, but she explained it the same way and I still didn’t understand.
EH: Okay ...
Reid: She asked me if I understood, and I said yes.
EH: Why would you say yes, if you didn’t understand?
Reid: Because if I asked her to explain it a third time, she’d think I was stupid.
EH: …. speechless …
EH: Okay Reid. Let’s figure out a way to get your teacher’s help, helping you.
What I was taught that day:
1) Reid sought extra help and asked a question – hooray!
2) He had the courage to ask the question a second time – bravo!
3) I understood why he ‘lied’ and told her he understood, even though he didn’t understand.
4) Teacher’s help doesn’t always help.
Backstory: Reid was in the last year of high school, four months away from graduating. When he had that exchange with the teacher, he had a 93% average in that math class.
I have never forgotten that conversation:
1) This ‘explaining the same way again’ happens too often by teachers,
2) How could I coach Reid to ask his teacher for help and have the help, help him,
3) If this is how a top achieving student responds, then most other students would either stop asking questions or exit stage left after not understanding the first explanation or give up and say, “I got it”, thanks, when in fact they don’t get it ☹.
I am a learning strategist, so I have to figure out ways to solve any learning related problem - extra help not helping is a problem. I’ll tell you what I said to Reid and have told all students since. And if you’ve had similar experiences when asking your teacher for help and their help doesn’t help, then here’s what you do. This works!
How to ask your teacher for help, so their help, helps
1st – UNDERSTAND THE PROBLEM: You do not understand their explanation. This could be because the teacher is saying it in a way that doesn’t make sense to you, or using math from the past that you are weak in, or they’re skipping steps in their explanation (e.g. using memorized rules).
2nd - OTHER PROBLEMS CREATED BY THIS PROBLEM: 1) weak areas not addressed, 2) will struggle with other questions that build on that, 3) Teacher’s help not helping, 4) Unprepared for next lessons, 5) Confidence in math reduced. **
3rd - WHAT ARE POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS!
Yes, it would be wonderful if your question led to an explanation that made sense to you, as the help would have helped! But sometimes the help doesn’t help. To make this real, let’s say your question to the teacher is, “I don’t understand, 1/2 + 1/3 = 3/6 + 2/6 … = 5/6”. And the teacher responds with, “When adding fractions, you need the same denominators,” … but you don’t understand that explanation.
Four possible solutions below:
Solution #1: You could ask the teacher to explain again, which Reid did, but instead, ask, “Can you explain it a different way”, as I didn’t understand your first explanation.” It’s a solution; however, a) not all students would feel confident telling their teacher what to do, and b) the teacher may not know another way.
Solution #2: Ask your question a different way: Why do you need the same denominators, 1/2 + 1/3?” What’s great about this question is that it’s a why question, and the response will ‘encourage’ your teacher to break their explanation into steps (so not answer by memorization).
Solution #3. Time to use your negotiating skills. Let’s say the teacher’s name is Mrs. Dean: “Mrs. Dean, based on what you know about my strengths and weaknesses, can you explain ½ + 1/3?”
Solution #4: “What’s the easier math this builds on?” I love this, as it asks the teacher to help you know what simpler past math is needed to make sense of this question.
All four above are a possible solution, but you’re looking for the one that’s ‘the’ solution for you.
4th REPETITION TIME
Once you find a solution that works, repeat that again and again and again when seeking help (e.g. What’s the easier math this builds on?”). That’s how it becomes a habit.
Reid’s solution: He chose Solution #2, a why question, so from that day, he always asked why questions and the teacher’s explanation worked. Yay 😊. Note: You need to have a strong foundation and remember past math to have a why explanation work, which Reid had.
Final thoughts:
If you're a weaker student, always go to Solution #3 or 4 - #4 is a bit better because the teacher is helping you to see the connection between this question and other math you know – they're helping make it easier for you.
If you’re stronger in math, go for #2 (ask why!). When I did Physics in high school, I chose Solution #2 (why?), I always, always asked why. In Mechanical Engineering at university, I used a combination of #1 and #3. Find the ones that work for you, and repeat!
Help is supposed to help.
Until next time,
EH
EH are my initials, for my name, Edison Hopkinson.
And ‘eh’ is a part of Canadian culture - it’s how many Canadians finish off sentences.
The help isn’t helping, eh.
So not so much a question, but more a statement. Well, I guess it could be a question, Where can I find good help, eh?
Until next time, eh!
P.S.
** See what I did there, back in #2, 2nd: OTHER PROBLEMS CREATED BY THIS PROBLEM? I listed five more issues! If you want to up your motivation, write at least five reasons you want to achieve that goal. I have objectives where I have 30 reasons – guess what? Motivation is not a problem! Why? I’ve got 30 reasons to not give up?
P.P.S.
Understanding your teacher: All four solutions, #1, 2, 3 and 4, require a lot more thinking from your teacher. What I mean is, when asked a question, most teachers will tell you how to do it (“You need the same denominators”), and if that works and helps, wonderful! But if their ‘telling’ doesn’t help you, you now have four possible solutions that will help.